COMMODORE    MATTHEW    CALBR.MTH    PERRY. 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITH    PERRY- 


Typical 


AMERICAN    NAVAL    OFFICER 


BY 


WILLIAM    ELLIOT    GRIFFIS 

n 

-Author    of  "The    Mikadn's   Empire "    "  Cnrea  the    Hermit  Nation 
and  "Japanese  Fairy  World." 


BOSTON 
CUPPLES    AND    HURD 

94  Boylston  Street 
1887 


* 


2.*  'r  - 

Copyright,  1887, 

BY   CUPPLES    AND    HURD. 


All  Eights  Reserved 


IN  REVERENT  MEMORY 

OF  MY  FATHER 

JOHN   L.    GRIFFIS 

AND    OF   MY   GRANDFATHER 

JOHN   GRIFFIS 

WHO    AS 
MERCHANT   NAVIGATORS     AND    COMMANDERS    OF    SHIPS   AND  MEN 

at  tf)e  enfcs  of  tfje  tart!) 

CARRIED    THE    FLAG    AND   EXTENDED    THE    TRADE 

OF    THE   YOUNG    REPUBLIC 
THIS    BIOGRAPHY    OF    HER   GREATEST    SAILOR-DIPLOMATIST 

IS    INSCRIBED 
BY      THE       AUTHOR 


284068 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


OUR    EARLY    NAVY. 

Chapter  Page 

I.    THE  CHILD  CALBRAITH. — A  REAL  BOY      ....       i 
II.    BOYHOOD'S   ENVIRONMENT. —  UNDER  THE  FLAG  OF 

FIFTEEN  STARS 10 

III.  A    MIDSHIPMAN'S   TRAINING    UNDER     COMMODORE 

RODGERS 19 

IV.  MEN,  SHIPS,  AND  GUNS  IN  1812 28 

V.    SERVICE  IN  THE  WAR  OF    1812. — THE  FLAG  KEPT 

FLYING  ON  ALL  SEAS          38 

AFRICA.       SLAVERS    AND    PIRATES. 

VI.  FIRST  VOYAGE  TO  THE  DARK  CONTINENT. — LIEU 
TENANT  PERRY  GOES  TO  GUINEA  50 

VII.    PERRY   LOCATES   THE    SITE   OF    MONROVIA.  —  THE 

AFRICAN  SLAVE  TRADE 58 

VIII.    FIGHTING  PIRATES  IN  THE  SPANISH  MAIN       ...     65 

EUROPE  AND  DIPLOMACY.       OUR  FLAG  IN  THE 
MEDITERRANEAN. 

IX.  THE  AMERICAN  LINE-OF-BATTLE  SHIP.  —  AMONG 

TURKS  AND  GREEKS 72 

X.  THE  CONCORD  IN  THE  SEAS  OF  RUSSIA  AND  EGYPT. 

—  CZAR  AND  KHEDIVE Si 

XI.  A  DIPLOMATIC  VOYAGE  IN  THE  FRIGATE  BRANDY- 
WINE. —  ANDREW  JACKSON'S  STALWART  POLICY. — 
PERRY  REHEARSES  FOR  JAPAN.  — NAPLES  PAYS  UP  91 


VI  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

SHORE    DUTY.       TEN    YEARS    OF    SCIENCE    AND 

Chapter 

XII.    THE      FOUNDER     OF     THE     BROOKLYN     NAVAL 

LYCEUM.  —  MASTER-COMMANDANT  PERRY  99 

XIII.    THE  FATHER   OF  THE  AMERICAN  STEAM  NAVY. 

—  THE    ENGINEER'S    STATUS    FIXED.  —  THE 
LINE  AND  THE  STAFF no 

XIV.    PERRY  DISCOVERS  THE    RAM.  — THE  TRIREME'S 

PROW     RESTORED. — TlIE    ' '  LlNE-OF-B  AT  TLE  " 
CHANGED    TO    "  BoWS  ON  " I  2O 

XV.    LIGHTHOUSE  ILLUMINATION.  —  LENSES  OR  RE 
FLECTORS? "...  129 

XVI.    REVOLUTIONS  IN  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE.  — THE 
NEW   MIDDLE  TERM  BETWEEN  COURAGE   AND 

CANNON. — CALORIC 138 

XVII.    THE  SCHOOL  OF  GUN  PRACTICE  AT  SANDY  I  IOOK. 

—  BOMB-GUNS  AND  THE  COMING  SHELLS      .     .      i-}6 
XVIII.    THE  TWIN  STEAMERS  MISSOURI  AND  MISSISSIPPI. 

—  IRON-CLADS    AND    ARMOR     .     .     .  156 

COMMODORE     OF    A  SO^UADRON.        AFRICAN     WATERS. 
EXTIRPATING    "THE  SUM  OF  ALL   VI  LLI  ANTES.  " 

XIX.    THE    BROAD   PENNANT. — OUR   ONLY   FOREIGN- 
COLONY.  —  POWDER  AND  BALL  AT  BERRIBEE.      167 
XX.    SCIENCE     AND     RELIGION.  —A     WAR     OF     INK 
BOTTLES.  —  PERRY     A*     A     MISSIONARY     AND 
CIVILIZER     .      .  •     .      183 

THE    MEXICAN    WAR. 

XXI.    THE  MEXICAN  WAR      .  197 

XXII.    COMMODORE  PERRY  COMMANDS  THE  SQUADRON     jif> 

XXIII.  THE  NAVAL  BATTERY  BREACHES  THE  WALLS  OF 

VERA    CRUZ     ...  226 

XXIV.  THE  NAVAL  BRIGADE.  — CAPTURE  OF  TABASCO  .     241 
XXV.    FIGHTING  THE  YELLOW   FEVER. — PEACE  .     251 

XXVI.    RESULTS  OFTIH^  WAR. —  GOLD  AND  THE  PACIFIC 

COAST  261 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  Vll 


JAPAN. 

Chapter  Page 

XXVII.    AMERICAN   ATTEMPTS   TO   OPEN   TRADE      .     .     .     270 
XXVIII.    ORIGIN    OF    THE    AMERICAN    EXPEDITION    TO 

JAPAN 281 

XXIX.    PREPARATIONS  FOR  JAPAN.  —  AN  INTERNATIONAL 

EPISODE 294 

XXX.    THE     FIRE-VESSELS    OF    THE    WESTERN    BAR 
BARIANS       , 314 

XXXI.    PANIC   IN  YEDO.  —  RECEPTION    OF   THE   PRESI 
DENT'S  LETTER '    .     .     329 

XXXII.   JAPANESE  PREPARATIONS    FOR   TREATY-MAKING     343 

XXXIII.  THE    PROFESSOR    AND   THE     SAILOR     MAKE    A 

TREATY   .........  359 

XXXIV.  LAST   LABORS      . 375 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK. 

XXXV.    MATTHEW  PERRY  AS  A  MAN .     .     395 

XXXVI.    WORKS  THAT  FOLLOW      .....        ....     409 


APPENDICES. 

Chapter  Page 

I.  AUTHORITIES 427 

II.  ORIGIN  OF  THE  PERRY  NAME  AND  FAMILY     .     .  429 

III.  THE  NAME  CALBRAITH    ..     ,'i.     .."...  430 

IV.  THE  FAMILY   OF   M.  C.  PERRY     .     .  431 
V.  OFFICIAL  DETAIL  OF  M.  C.  PERRY     .  433 

VI.  THE  NAVAL  APPRENTICESHIP  SYSTEM    .          .     .  435 

VII.  DUELLING   . ....  440 

VIII.  MEMORIALS  IN  ART  OF  M.  C.  PERRY     ....  443 


INDEX •..    .      447 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


COMMODORE  MATTHEW  CALBRAITH  PERRY     .     .    Frontispiece 

Page 
THE  UNITED  STATES  STEAM  FRIGATE  "Mississippi"     .     161 

PERRY  AT  THE  AGE  OF  FIFTY-FOUR 221 

CONVEYANCE  AT  FUNCHAL      . 309 

COMMODORE  PERRY  ENTERING  THE  TREATY-HOUSE     .     .     360 

SIGNATURES  AND  PEN-SEALS  OF  THE  JAPANESE  TREATY 

COMMISSIONERS 370 

SILVER  SALVER  IN  POSSESSION  OF  COMMODORE   PERRY'S 

DAUGHTER,  MRS.  AUGUST  BELMONT 381 

MEDAL  PRESENTED  BY  THE  MERCHANTS  OF  BOSTON   .     .     387 
COMMODORE  PERRY'S  AUTOGRAPH 426 


PREFACE. 


AMONG  the  earliest  memories  of  a  childhood 
spent  near  the  now  vanished  Philadelphia  Navy 
Yard,  are  the  return  home  of  the  marines  and 
sailors  from  the  Mexican  war,  the  launch  of  the 
noble  steam  frigate  Susquehanna,  the  salutes  from 
the  store-ship  Princeton,  and  the  exhibit  of  the  art 
treasures  brought  home  by  the  United  States  Ex 
pedition  to  Japan  —  all  associated  with  the  life  of 
Commodore  M.  C.  Perry.  Years  afterwards,  on  the 
shores  of  that  bay  made  historic  by  his  diplomacy, 
I  heard  the  name  of  Perry  spoken  with  reverence 
and  enthusiasm.  The  younger  men  of  Japan,  with 
faces  flushed  with  new  ideas  of  the  Meiji  era, 
called  him  the  moral  liberator  of  their  nation. 
Many  and  eager  were  the  questions  asked  concern 
ing  his  career,  and  especially  his  personal  history. 

Yet  little  could  be  told,  for  in  American  literature 
and  popular  imagination,  the  name  of  the  hero  of 
Lake  Erie  seemed  to  overshadow  the  fame  of  the 
younger,  and,  as  I  think,  greater  brother.  The 


Xll  PREFACE. 

dramatic  incidents  of  war  impress  the  popular 
mind  far  more  profoundly  than  do  the  victories  of 
peace.  Even  American  writers  confound  the  two 
brothers,  treating  them  as  the  same  person,  mak 
ing  one  the  son  of  the  other,  or  otherwise  doing 
fantastic  violence  to  history.  Numerous  biographies 
have  been  written,  and  memorials  in  art,  of  marble, 
bronze  and  canvas,  on  coin  and  currency,  of  Oliver 
Hazard  Perry,  have  been  multiplied.  No  biography 
of  Matthew  Calbraith  Perry  has,  until  this  writing, 
appeared.  In  Japan,  popular  curiosity  fed  itself  on 
flamboyant  broadside  chromo-pictures,  "  blood-pit  " 
novels,  and  travesties  of  history,  in  which  Perry  was 
represented  either  as  a  murderous  swash-buckler  or 
a  consumptive-looking  and  over-decorated  European 
general.  It  was  to  satisfy  an  earnest  desire  of  the 
Japanese  to  know  more  of  the  man,  who  so  pro 
foundly  influenced  their  national  history,  that  this 
biography  was  at  first  undertaken. 

I  began  the  work  by  a  study  of  the  scenes  of 
Perry's  triumphs  in  Japan,  and  of  his  early  life  in 
Rhode  Island  ;  by  interviews  in  navy  yard,  hos 
pital  and  receiving-ship,  with  the  old  sailors  who 
had  served  under  him  in  various  crusades  ;  by  cor 
respondence  and  conversation  with  his  children,  per 
sonal  friends,  fellow-officers,  critics,  enemies,  and 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

eye-witnesses  of  his  labors  and  works.  I  followed 
up  this  out-door  peripatetic  study  by  long  and  pa 
tient  research  in  the  archives  of  the  United  States 
Navy  Department  in  Washington,  with  collateral 
reading  of  American,  European,  Mexican  and  Jap 
anese  books,  manuscripts  and  translations  bearing 
on  the  subject ;  and,  most  valued  of  all,  documents 
from  the  Mikado's  Department  of  State  in  Tokio. 

As  the  career  and  character  of  my  subject  un 
folded,  I  discovered  that  Matthew  Perry  was  no 
creature  of  routine,  but  a  typical  American  naval 
officer  whose  final  triumph  crowned  a  long  and  bril 
liant  career.  He  had  won  success  in  Japanese 
waters  not  by  a  series  of  happy  accidents,  but  be 
cause  all  his  previous  life  had  been  a  preparation 
to  win  it. 

In  this  narrative,  much  condensed  from  the 
original  draft,  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  do 
either  justice  or  injustice  to  Perry's  fellow-officers, 
or  to  write  a  history  of  his  times,  or  of  the  United 
States  Navy.  Many  worthy  names  have  been  ne 
cessarily  omitted.  For  the  important  facts  recorded, 
reliance  has  been  placed  on  the  written  word  of 
documentary  evidence.  Fortunately,  Perry  was  a 
master  of  the  pen  and  of  his  native  language.  As 
he  wrote  almost  all  of  his  own  letters  and  -official 


XIV  PREFACE. 

reports,  his  papers,  both  public  and  private,  are 
not  only  voluminous  and  valuable  but  bear  witness 
to  his  scrupulous  regard  for  personal  mastery  of 
details,  as  well  as  for  style  and  grammar,  fact  and 
truth. 

Unable  to  thank  all  who  have  so  kindly  aided 
me,  I  must  especially  mention  with  gratitude  the 
Hon.  Wm.  E.  Chandler  and  W.  C.  Whitney,  Secre 
taries  of  the  United  States  Navy  Department,  Prof. 
J.  R.  Soley,  chief  clerk  T.  W.  Hogg  and  clerk  J 
Cassin,  for  facilities  in  consulting  the  rich  archives  of 
the  United  States  Navy  ;  Admiral  D.  D.  Porter  anc. 
Rear-Admirals  John  Almy,  D.  Ammen,  C.  R.  P 
Rodgers,  T.  A.  Jenkins,  J.  H.  Upshur,  and  Captain 
Arthur  Yates  ;  the  retired  officers,  pay  director  J.  G 
Harris,  Lieut.  T.  S.  Bassett  and  Lieut.  Silas  Bent  for 
merly  of  the  United  States  Navy,  for  light  on  many 
points  and  for  reminiscences  ;  Messrs.  P.  S.  P.  Con 
ner,  John  H.  Redfield,  Joseph  Jenks,  R.  B.  Forbes, 
Chas.  H.  Haswell,  Joshua  Follansbee,  and  the  Hon. 
John  A.  Bingham,  for  special  information  ;  tile- 
daughters  of  Captains  H.  C.  Adams,  and  Franklin 
Buchanan,  for  the  use  of  letters  and  for  personalia  ;; 
Rev.  E.  Warren  Clark,  Miss  Orpah  Rose,  Miss  E.  B. 
Carpenter  and  others  in  Rhode  Island,  for  anec 
dotes  of  Perry's  early  life  ;  the  Hon.  Gideon  Nye  of 


PREFACE.  XV 

Canton ;  the  Rev  G.  F.  Verbeck  of  Tokio  ;  many 
Japanese  friends,  especially  Mr.  Inazo  Ota,  for  docu 
ments  and  notes ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  daugh • 
ters  of  Commodore  M.  C.  Perry,  Mrs.  August  Bel- 
mont,  Mrs.  R.  S.  Rodgers,  and  especially  Mrs. 
George  Tiffany,  who  loaned  letters  and  scrap-books, 
and,  with  Mrs.  Elizabeth  R.  Smith  of  Hartford, 
furnished  much  important  personal  information. 
Among  the  vanished  hands  and  the  voices  that  are 
now  still,  that  have  aided  me,  are  those  of  Rear- 
Admirals  Joshua  R.  Sands,  George  H.  Preble,  and 
J.  B.  F.  Sands,  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams,  Gen.  Horace 
Capron,  and  others.  A  list  of  Japanese  books  con 
sulted,  and  of  Perry's  autograph  writings  and  pub 
lications,  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix  ;  references 
are  in  foot  notes. 

The  work  now  committed  to  type  was  written  at 
Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  in  the  interstices  of  duties 
imperative  to  a  laborious  profession  ;  and  with  it  are 
linked  many  pleasant  memories  of  the  kindly  neigh 
bors  and  fellow  Christians  there  ;  as  well  as  of  hos 
pitality  in  Washington.  In  its  completion  and  pub 
lication  in  Boston,  new  friends  have  taken  a  gratify 
ing  interest,  among  whom  I  gratefully  -name  Mr.  S. 
T.  Snow,  and  M.  F.  Dickinson,  Esq. 

In  setting  in  the  framework  of  true  history  this 


XVI  PREFACE. 

figure  of  a  fellow-American  great  in  war  and  in 
peace,  the  intention  has  been  not  to  glorify  the 
profession  of  arms,  to  commend  war,  to  show  any 
lack  of  respect  to  my  English  ancestors  or  their  des 
cendants,  to  criticise  any  sect  or  nation,  to  ventilate 
any  private  theories  ;  but,  to  tell  a  true  story  that 
deserves  the  telling,  to  show  the  attractiveness  of 
manly  worth  and  noble  traits  wherever  found,  and 
to  cement  the  ties  of  friendship  between  Japan  and 
the  United  States.  One  may  help  to  build  up 
character  by  pointing, to  a  good  model.  To  the 
lads  of  my  own  country,  but  especially  to  Japan 
ese  young  men,  I  commend  the  study  of  Matthew 
Perry's  career.  The  principles,  in  which  he  was 
trained  at  home  by  his  mother  and  father,  of  the  re 
ligion  which  anchored  him  by  faith  in  the  eternal 
realties,  and  of  the  Book  which  he  believed  and  read 
constantly,  lie  at  the  root  of  what  is  best  in  the  pro 
gress  of  a  nation.  No  Japanese  will  make  a  mistake 
who  follows  Perry  as  he  followed  the  guidance  of 
these  principles  ;  while  the  United  States  will  be 
Japan's  best  exemplar  and  faithful  friend  only  so  far 
as  she  illustrates  them  in  her  national  policy. 

W.  E.  G. 
SHAWMUT  CHURCH  PARSONAGE, 

Boston,  July  ist,  1887. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE    CHILD    CALBRAITH. 

WHEN  in  the  year  1854,  all  Christendom  was 
thrilled  by  the  news  of  the  opening  of  Japan  to 
intercourse  with  the  world,  the  name  of  Commodore 
Matthew  Perry  was  on  the  lips  of  nations.  In 
Europe  it  was  acknowledged  that  the  triumph  had 
been  achieved  by  no  ordinary  naval  officer.  Con 
summate  mastery  of  details  combined  with  marked 
diplomatic  talents  stamped  Matthew  Calbraith  Perry 
as  a  man  whose  previous  history  was  worth  knowing. 
That  history  we  propose  to  outline. 

The  life  of  our  subject  is  interesting  for  the  fol 
lowing  among  many  excellent  reasons  : — 

1.  While  yet  a  lad,  he  was  active  as  a  naval  officer 
in  the  war  of  1812. 

2.  He  chose  the  location   of  the   first    free  black 
settlement  in  Liberia. 

3.  He  was,  to  the  end  of  his  life,  one  of  the  lead 
ing  educators  of  the  United  States  Navy. 

4.  He  was  the  father  of  our  steam  navy. 

5.  He  first  demonstrated  the  efficiency  of  the  ram 
as  a  weapon  of  offense  in  naval  warfare. 

6.  He  founded  the  naval-apprenticeship  system. 


2  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

7.  He   was  an   active  instrument   in   assisting  to 
extirpate  the  foreign  slave-trade  on  the  west  coast  o . 
Africa. 

8.  His  methods  helped    to    remove    duelling,   the; 
grog  ration  and  flogging  out  of  the  American  navy. 

9.  He  commanded,  in    1847,  the  largest  squadron 
which,  up  to  that  date,  had  ever  assembled  under  the 
American  flag,  in  the  Gulf    of    Mexico.     The  naval 
battery  manned  by  his  pupils  in  gunnery  decided  tho 
fate  of  Vera  Cruz,  and  his  fleet's  presence    enabled 
Scott's  army  to  reach  the  Capital. 

10.  His  final  triumph  was  the  opening  of   Japai 
to  the   world, —  one   of   the    three    single   events   in 
American    History, —  the    Declaration    of    Indepen 
dence,  and   the  Arbitration   of   the   Alabama   claims 
being  the  other  two, —  which  have  had  the  greatest 
influence  upon  the  world  at  large. 

Sturdy  ancestry,  parental  and  especially  a  mothers 
training,  good  education,  long  experience,  and  persis 
tent  self-culture  enabled  Matthew  Perry  to  earn  that 
"brain  victory"  over  the  Japanese  of  which  none  are 
more  proud  than  themselves. 

Let  us  look  at  his  antecedents.*  Three  at  least 
among  the  early  immigrants  to  Massachusetts  bore 
the  name  of  Perry.  Englishmen  of  England's  heroic 
age,  they  were  of  Puritan  and  Quaker  stock.  Their 
descendants  have  spread  over  various  parts  of  the 
United  States. 


*  See  Appendix.  — Origin  of  the  Perry  Name  and  Family. 


THE    CHILD    CALBRAITH.  3 

He,  with  whom  our  narrative  concerns  itself, 
Edmund  or  Edward  Perry,  the  ancestor,  in  the  sixth 
degree  both  of  the  "Japan,"  and  the  "Lake  Erie" 
Perry,  was  born  in  Devonshire  in  1630.  He  was  a 
Friend  of  decidedly  militant  turn  of  mind.  He 
preached  the  doctrines  of  peace,  with  the  spirit  of 
war,  to  the  Protector's  troops.  Oliver,  not  wishing 
this,  made  it  convenient  to  Edmund  Perry  to  leave 
England. 

By  settling  at  Sandwich  in  1653,  then  the  head 
quarters  of  the  Friends  in  America,  he  took  early 
and  vigorous  part  in  "the  Quaker  invasion  of  Massa 
chusetts."  On  first  day  of  first  month,  1676,  he  wrote 
a  Railing  against  the  Court  of  Plymouth,  for  which  he 
was  heavily  fined.  He  married  Mary  the  daughter 
of  Edmund  Freeman,  the  vice-governor  of  the  colony. 
His  son  Samuel,  born  in  1654,  emigrated  to  Rhode 
Island,  and  bought  the  Perry  farm,  near  South 
Kingston,  which  still  remains  in  possession  of  the 
family.  The  later  Perrys  married  in  the  Raymond 
and  Hazard  families. 

Christopher  Raymond  Perry,  the  fifth  descendant 
in  the  male  line  of  Edward  Perry,  and  the  son  of 
Freeman  Perry,  was  born  December  4th,  1761.  His 
mother  was  Mercy  Hazard,  the  daughter  of  Oliver 
Hazard  and  Elizabeth  Raymond.  He  became  the 
father  of  five  American  naval  officers,  of  whom 
Oliver  Hazard  and  Matthew  Calbraith  are  best 
known.  The  war  of  the  Revolution  broke  out 
when  he  was  but  in  his  I5th  year.  The  militant 


4  MATTHEW    CALBRAITII    PERRY. 

traits  of  his  ancestor  were  stronger  in  him  than 
the  pacific  tenets  of  his  sect.  He  enlisted  in  the 
Kingston  Reds.  The  service  not  being  exciting,  he 
volunteered  in  Captain  Reed's  Yankee  privateer. 
His  second  cruise  was  made  in  the  Mifflin,  Captain 
G.  W.  Babcock. 

Like  the  other  ships  of  the  colonies  in  the  Revolu 
tion,  the  Mifflin  was  a  one-decked,  un coppered 
"bunch  of  pine  boards,"  in  which  patriotism  and 
valor  could  ill  compete  with  British  frigates  oc 
seasoned  oak.  Captured  by  the  cruisers  of  King 
George,  the  crew  was  sent  to  the  prison  ship  Jersey. 
This  hulk  lay  moored  where  the  afternoon  shadows 
of  the  great  bridge-cables  are  now  cast  upon  th<i 
East  River.  For  three  months,  the  boy  endured 
the  horrors  of  imprisonment  in  this  floating  coffin. 
It  was  with  not  much  besides  bones,  however,  that 
he  escaped. 

As  soon  as  health  permitted,  he  enlisted  on  board 
the  U.  S.  man-of-war  Trwnbnll,  commanded  by 
Captain  James  Nicholson,  armed  with  thirty  guns 
and  manned  by  two-hundred  men.  On  the  2d  of 
June  1780,  she  fell  in  with  the  British  letter-of- 
marque  Watt,  a  ship  heavier  and  larger  and  witli 
more  men  and  guns  than  the  Trnmbnll.  The  conflict 
was  the  severest  naval  duel  of  the  war.  It  was  in 
the  old  days  of  unscientific  cannonading ;  before 
carronades  had  revealed  their  power  to  smash  at 
short  range,  or  shell-guns  to  tear  ships  to  pieces,  or 
rifles  to  penetrate  armor.  With  smooth-bores  of 


THE    CHILD    CALBRAITH.  5 

twelve  and  six  pound  calibre,  a  battle  might  last 
hours  or  even  days,  before  either  ship  was  sunk,  fired 
or  surrendered.  The  prolonged  mutilation  of  human 
flesh  had  little  to  do  with  the  settlement  of  the 
question.  The  Trumbull  and  the  Watt  lay  broadside 
with  each  other  and  but  one  hundred  yards  apart, 
exchanging  continual  volleys.  The  Trumbull  was 
crippled,  but  her  antagonist  withdrew,  not  attempt 
ing  capture. 

By  the  accidents  of  war  and  the  overwhelming 
force  of  the  enemy,  our  little  navy  was  nearly 
annihilated  by  the  year  1780.  Slight  as  may  seem 
the  value  of  its  services,  its  presence  on  the  seas 
helped  mightily  to  finally  secure  victory.  The 
regular  cruisers  and  the  privateers  captured  British 
vessels  laden  with  supplies  and  ammunition  of  war. 
Washington's  army  owed  much  of  its  efficiency  to 
this  source,  for  no  fewer  than  eight-hundred  British 
prizes  were  brought  to  port.  So  keenly  did  Great 
Britain  feel  the  privateers'  sting  that  about  the  year 
1780,  she  struck  a  blow  designed  to  annihilate  them. 
Her  agents  were  instructed  not  to  exchange  prison 
ers  taken  on  privateers.  This  order  influenced  C.  R. 
Perry's  career.  He  had  enlisted  for  the  third  time, 
daring  now  to  beard  the  lion  in  his  den.  Cruising  in 
the  Irish  sea,  he  was  captured  and  carried  as  a 
prisoner  to  Newry,  County  Down,  Ireland. 

Here,  though  there  was  no  prospect  of  release  till 
the  war  was  over,  he  received  very  different  treat 
ment  from  that  on  the  Jersey.  Allowed  to  go  out  on 


6  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

parole,  he  met  a  lad  named  Baillie  Wallace,  and  his 
cousin,  Sarah  Alexander.  Of  her  we  shall  hear  later. 
After  eighteen  months  imprisonment,  Perry  made 
his  escape.  As  seaman  on  a  British  vessel,  he 
reached  St.  Thomas  in  the  West  Indies.  Thence 
sailing  to  Charleston,  he  found  the  war  over  and 
peace  declared. 

Remembering  the  pretty  face  which  had  lighted 
up  his  captivity,  Perry,  the  next  year,  made  a  voyage 
as  mate  of  a  merchant  vessel  to  Ireland.  Providence 
favored  his  wishes,  for  on  the  return  voyage  Mr. 
Calbraith,  an  old  friend  of  the  Alexanders  and 
Wallaces,  embarked  as  a  passenger  to  Philadelphia. 
With  him,  to  Perry's  delight,  went  Miss  Sarah 
Alexander  on  a  visit  to  her  uncle,  a  friend  of  Dr. 
Benjamin  Rush.  Matthew  Calbraith,  a  little  boy 
and  the  especial  pet  of  Miss  Alexander,  came  also. 

An  ocean  voyage  a  century  ago  was  not  measured 
by  days  —  a  sail  in  a  hotel  between  morning  worship 
at  Queenstown  and  a  sermon  in  New  York  on  the 
following  Sunday  night  —  but  consumed  weeks. 
The  lovers  had  ample  time.  Perry  had  the  suitor's 
three  elements  of  success, —  propinquity,  opportunity 
and  importunity.  Before  they  arrived  in  this 
country,  they  were  betrothed. 

On  landing  in  Philadelphia,  the  first  news  received 
by  Miss  Alexander  at  the  mouth  of  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush  was  of  the  death  of  both  uncle  and  aunt.  Her 
relatives  had  committed  her  to  the  care  of  Dr.  Rush 
and  at  his  house  the  young  couple  were  married  in 
October  1784. 


THE    CHILD    CALBRAITH.  7 

The  bride,  though  but  sixteen  years,  was  rich  in 
beauty,  character  and  spirit.  The  groom  was  twenty- 
three,  "  A  warm-hearted  high-spirited  man,  very 
handsome,  with  dashing  manners,  and  very  polite. 
He  treated  people  with  distinction  but  would  be 
quick  to  resent  an  insult."  The  young  couple  for 
their  wedding  journey  traveled  to  South  Kingston, 
R.  I.  There  they  enjoyed  an  enthusiastic  reception. 

The  race-traits  of  the  sturdy  British  yeomanry  and 
of  the  Scotch-Irish  people  were  now  to  blend  in 
forming  the  parentage  of  Oliver  and  Matthew  Perry, 
names  known  to  all  Americans. 

Away  from  her  childhood's  home  in  a  strange  land, 
the  message  from  the  45th  Psalm  —  the  Song  of  Loves 
— •  now  came  home  to  the  young  wife  with  a  force 
•that  soon  conquered  homesickness,  and  with  a  mean 
ing  that  deepened  with  passing  years. 

"  Hearken,  O  daughter,  and  consider  and  incline 
thine  ear,  forget  also  thine  own  people  and  thy 
father's  house." 

"  Instead  of  thy  fathers  shall  be  thy  children  whom 
thou  mayest  make  princes  in  all  the  earth." 

Captain  C.  R.  Perry  entered  the  commercial 
marine  and  for  thirteen  years  made  voyages  as  mate, 
master  or  supercargo  to  Europe,  South  America  and 
the  East  Indies.  Even  then,  our  flag  floated  in  all 
seas.  It  had  been  raised  in  China,  and  seen  at 
Nagasaki  in  Japan.  In  1789  and  '90,  the  U.  S.  S. 
Columbus  and  Washington  circumnavigated  the  globe, 
the  first  American  war  vessels  to  do  so.  The  cities 


3  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

of  Providence  and   Newport  secured  a  large  portion 
of  the  trade  with  Cathay. 

The  future  hero  of  Lake  Erie  was  ten  years  old, 
and  two  other  children,  a  son  and  a  daughter,  played 
in  the  sea-captain's  home  at  Newport,  when  America's 
greatest  sailor-diplomat  was  born  on  the  loth  clay  of 
April  1794.  After  her  former  young  friend,  at  this 
time  a  promising  young  merchant  in  Philadelphia, 
the  mother  named  her  third  son  Matthew  Calbraith 
Perry.  The  boy  was  destined  to  outlive  his  parents 
and  all  his  brothers. 

Matthew  Perry  was  an  eager,  active,  and  robust 
child  full  of  life  and  energy.  His  early  youth  was 
spent  in  Newport,  at  courtly  Tower  Hill,  and  on  the 
farm  at  South  Kingston.  From  the  first,  his  mother 
and  his  kin  called  him  "  Calbraith."  This  was  his. 
name  in  the  family  even  to  adult  life.  Few  anec 
dotes  of  his  boyhood  are  remembered,  but  one  is 
characteristic. 

When  only  three  years  old,  the  ruddy-faced  child 
was  in  Kingston.  Like  a  Japanese,  he  could  not  say 
/,  as  in  "lash."  He  walked  about  with  a  whip  in  his 
hand  which  he  called  his  "rass."  There  was  a  tan  yard 
near  by  and  the  bark  was  ground  by  a  superannuated' 
horse.  One  of  his  older  brothers  called  him  an  "old 
bark  horse."  This  displeased  the  child.  He  reddened 
with  anger,  and  his  temper  exploded  in  one  of  those 
naughty  words,  which  in  a  baby's  mouth  often 
surprise  parents.  They  wonder  where  the  uncanny 
things  have  been  picked  up ;  but  our  baby-boy 


THE    CHILD    CALBRAITH.  9 

added,  "If  I  knew  more,  I  would  say  it."  For  this 
outburst  of  energy,  he  suffered  maternal  arrest. 
Placed  in  irons,  or  apron  strings,  he  was  tied  up  until 
repentant. 

That  was  Matthew  Perry — never  doing  less  than 
his  best.  Action  was  limited  only  by  ability  —  "  If 
I  knew  more,  I  would  say  it."  The  Japanese 
proverb  says  "The  heart  of  a  child  of  three  years 
remains  until  he  is  sixty."  The  western  poet  writes 
it,  "The  child  is  father  of  the  man."  If  he  had 
known  more,  even  in  Yedo  bay  in  1854,  he  would 
have  done  even  better  than  his  own  best;  which, 
like  the  boast  of  the  Arctic  hero,  was  that  he  "  beat 
the  record." 


CHAPTER    II. 

BOYHOOD'S  ENVIRONMENT. 

IN  the  year  1797,  war  between  France  and  the 
United  States  seemed  inevitable,  and  "  Hail  Colum 
bia"  was  sung  all  over  the  land.  The  Navy  Depart 
ment  of  the  United  States  was  created  May  21,  1798. 
Captain  Perry,  having  offered  his  services  to  the 
government,  was  appointed  by  President  Adams,  a 
post-captain  in  the  navy  June  9,  1798,  and  ordered  to 
build  and  command  the  frigate  General  Greene  at 
Warren,  R.  I.  The  keels  of  six  sloops  and  six  seventy- 
four  gun  ships  were  also  laid.  In  May,  1799,  the 
General  Greene  was  ready  for  sea. 

With  his  son  Oliver  as  midshipman,  Captain  Perry 
sailed  for  the  West  Indies  to  convoy  American  mer 
chantmen.  He  left  his  wife  and  family  at  Tower 
Hill,  a  courtly  village  with  a  history  and  fine  society. 
Matthew  was  five  years  old.  He  had  been  taught  to 
read  by  his  mother,  and  now  attended  the  school- 
house,  an  edifice,  which,  now  a  century  old,  has  de 
generated  to  a  corn-crib. 

Mrs.  Perry  lived  in  "  the  court  end  "  of  the  town,  and, 
after  school,  would  tell  her  little  sons  of  their  father 
and  brothers  at  sea.  This  element  was  ever  in  sight 
with  its  ships,  its  mystery,  and  its  beckoning  dis- 


BOYHOOD  S    ENVIRONMENT.  I  I 

tances.  From  Tower  Hill  may  be  seen  Newport, 
Conanticut  Island,  Block  Island,  Point  Judith,  and  a 
stretch  of  inland  country  diversified  by  lakes,  and 
what  the  Coreans  call  "  Ten  thousand  flashings  of 
blue  waves." 

After  two  brilliant  cruises  in  the  Spanish  Main, 
and  a  visit  to  Louisiana,  where  the  American  flag 
was  first  displayed  by  a  national  ship,  Captain  Perry 
returned  to  Newport  in  May,  1800.  Negotiations 
with  France  terminated  peacefully,  and  the  first  act 
of  President  Jefferson  was  to  cut  down  the  navy  to  a 
merely  nominal  existence.  Out  of  forty-two  captains 
only  nine  were  retained  in  service,  and  Captain  Perry 
again  found  himself  in  private  life. 

The  first  and  logical  result  of  reducing  the  nation's 
police  force  on  the  seas,  was  the  outbreak  of  piracy. 
Our  expanding  commerce  found  itself  unprotected,  and 
the  Algerian  corsairs  captured  our  vessels  and  threw 
their  crews  into  slavery.  In  the  war  with  the  Bar- 
bary  powers,  our  navy  gained  its  first  reputation 
abroad  in  the  classic  waters  of  the  Mediterranean. 

Meanwhile  at  Newport  the  boy,  Matthew  Calbraith, 
continued  his  education  under  school-teachers,  and 
his  still  more  valuable  training  in  character  under  his 
mother.  The  family  lived  near  "the  Point,  "  and  during 
the  long  voyages  of  the  father,  the  training  of  the 
sons  and  daughters  fell  almost  wholly  on  the  mother. 

It  was  a  good  gift  of  Providence  to  our  nation,  this 
orphan  Irish  bride  so  amply  fitted  to  be  the  mother 
of  heroes.  Of  a  long  line  of  officers  in  the  navy  of 


12  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

the  United  States,  most  of  those  bearing  the  name  of 
Perry,  and  several  of  the  name  of  Rodgers,  call  Sarah 
Alexander  their  ancestress.  One  of  the  forefathers  of 
the  bride,  who  was  of  the  Craigie-Wallace  family,  was 
Sir  Richard  Wallace  of  Riccarton,  Scotland.  He 
was  the  elder  brother  of  Malcom  Wallace. of  Ellerslie, 
the  father  of  Sir  William  Wallace.  Her  grandfather 
was  James  Wallace,  an  officer  in  the  Scottish  army, 
who  signed  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  of 
1643,  but  resigned  his  commission  some  years  later. 
With  other  gentlemen  from  Ayrshire,  he  took  refuge 
from  religious  persecution  in  North  Ireland.  Though 
earnest  Protestants,  they  became  involved  in  the 
Irish  rebellion  in  Cromwell's  time  and  were  driven 
to  resistance  of  the  English  invaders. 

As  a  young  girl  Sarah  Alexander  had  not  only  lis 
tened  to  oft-repeated  accounts  of  the  battles  and 
valor  of  her  ancestors  but  was  familiar  with  the  his 
toric  sites  in  the  neighborhood  of  her  childhood's 
home.  She  believed  her  own  people  the  bravest  in 
the  world.  Well  educated,  and  surrounded  with 
the  atmosphere  of  liberal  culture,  of  high  ideas,  of 
the  sacredness  of  duty  and  the  beauty  of  religion,  she 
had  been  morally  well  equipped  for  the  responsi 
bilities  of  motherhood  and  mature  life.  Add  to  this, 
the  self-reliance  naturally  inbred  by  dwelling  as  an 
orphan  girl  among  five  young  men,  her  cousins  ;  and 
last  and  most  important,  the  priceless  advantage  of  a 
superb  physique,  and  one  sees  beforehand  to  what  in 
heritance  her  sons  were  to  come.  One  old  lady,  who  re- 


BOYHOOD'S  ENVIRONMENT.  13 

members  her  well,  enthusiastically  declared  that  "  she 
was  wonderfully  calculated  to  form  the  manners  of 
children.  "  Another  who  knew  her  in  later  life  writes 
of  her  as  "  a  Spartan  mother,"  "  a  grand  old  lady." 
Another  says  "Intelligent,  lady-like,  well  educated;" 
another  that  "she  was  all  that  is  said  of  her  in  Mac 
kenzie's  Life  of  O.  H.  Perry.  "  Those  nearest  to  her 
remember  her  handsome  brown  eyes,  dark  hair,  rich 
complexion,  fine  white  teeth,  and  stately  figure. 

The  deeds  of  the  Perry  men  are  matters  of  history. 
The  province  of  the  women  was  at  home,  but  it  was 
the  mothers,  of  the  Hazard  and  the  Alexander  blood 
who  prepared  the  men  for  their  careers  by  moulding 
in  them  the  principles  from  which  noble  actions 
spring. 

Discipline,  sweetened  with  love,  was  the  system  of 
the  mother  of  the  Perry  boys,  and  the  foundation  of 
their  education.  First  of  all,  they  must  obey.  The 
principles  of  Christianity,  of  honor,  and  of  chivalry 
were  instilled  in  their  minds  from  birth.  Noblesse 
oblige  was  their  motto.  It  was  at  home,  under  their 
mother's  eye  that  Oliver  learned  how  to  win  victory 
at  Lake  Erie,  and  Matthew  a  treaty  with  Japan. 
She  fired  the  minds  of  her  boys  with  the  ineradicable 
passion  of  patriotism,  the  love  of  duty,  and  the  con 
quest  of  self.  At  the  same  time,  she  trained  them  to 
the  severest  virtue,  purest  motives,  faithfulness  in 
details,  a  love  for  literature,  and  a  reverence  for  sa 
cred  things.  The  riabit  which  Matthew  C.  Perry  had 
of  reading  his  Bible  through  once  during  every  cruise, 


14  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH     PERRY. 

his  scrupulous  regard  for  the  Lord's  day,  the  Ameri 
can  Sunday,  his  taste  for  literature,  and  his  love  for 
the  English  classics  were  formed  at  his  mother's  knee. 
The  vigor  of  her  mind  and  force  of  her  character 
were  illustrated  in  other  ways.  While  personally 
attractive  with  womanly  graces,  gentle  and  persuasive 
in  her  manners,  she  believed  that  self-preservation 
is  the  first  law  of  nature.  Training  her  sons  to  kind- 

O 

ness  and  consideration  of  others,  and  warning  them  to 
avoid  quarrels,  she  yet  demanded  of  them  that  they 
should  neither  provoke  nor  receive  an  insult,  nor  ever 
act  the  coward.  How  well  her  methods  were  under 
stood  by  her  neighbors,  is  shown  by  an  incident  which 
occurred  shortly  after  news  of  the  victory  at  Lake 
Erie  reached  Rhode  Island.  An  old  farmer  stoutly 
insisted  that  it  was  Mrs.  Perry  who  had  "  licked  the 
British.  " 

There  was  much  in  the  social  atmosphere  and  his 
torical  associations  of  Newport  at  the  opening  of  this 
century  to  nourish  the  ambition  and  fire  the  imagina 
tion  of  impressible  lads  like  the  Perry  boys.  Here 
still  lived  the  French  veteran,  Count  Rochambeau  of 
revolutionary  fame.  Out  in  the  bay,  fringed  with 
fortifications  of  Indian,  Dutch,  Colonial  and  British 
origin  and  replete  with  memories  of  stirring  deeds,  lay 
the  hulk  of  the  famous  ship  in  which  Captain  Cook 
had  observed  the  transit  of  Venus  and  circumnavigated 
the  globe.  Here,  possibly,  the  Norsemen  had  come 
to  dwell  centuries  before,  and  fascinating  though 
uncertain  tradition  pointed  to  the  then  naked  masonry 


BOYHOODS    ENVIRONMENT.  15 

of  the  round  tower  as  evidence  of  it.  The  African 
slave  trade  was  very  active  at  this  time,  and  brought 
much  wealth  to  Newport  and  the  old  manors  served 
by  black  slaves  fresh  from  heathenism.  Among  other 
noted  negroes  was  Phillis  Wheatly  the  famous  poetess, 
then  in  her  renown,  who  had  been  brought  to  Boston 
in  1781  in  a  slave  ship.  What  was  afterwards  left  to 
Portuguese  cut-throats  and  Soudan  Arabs  was,  until 
within  the  memory  of  old  men  now  living,  prose 
cuted  by  Yankee  merchants  and  New  England  dea 
cons  whose  ship's  cargoes  consisted  chiefly  of  rum 
and  manacles.  At  this  iniquity,  Matthew  Perry  was 
one  day  to  deal  a  stunning  blow. 

Here,  too,  had  tarried  Berkeley,  not  then  a  bishop, 
however,  whose  prophecy,  "  Westward  the  star  of 
empire  takes  its  way  "  was  to  be  fulfilled  by  Matthew 
Perry  across  new  oceans,  even  to  Japan.  Once  a 
year  the  gaily  decked  packet-boat  set  out  from 
Newport  to  Providence  to  carry  the  governor  from 
one  capital  to  the  other.  This  was  a  red-letter  day 
to  little  Calbraith,  in  whose  memory  it  remained 
bright  and  clear  to  the  day  of  his  death.  When  he 
was  about  ten  years  old,  Mr.  Matthew  Calbraith  now 
thirty  years  old  and  a  successful  merchant,  came  from 
Philadelphia  to  visit  the  Perrys.  He  was  delighted 
with  his  little  namesake,  and  prophesied  that  he  would 
make  the  name  of  Perry  more  honorable  yet. 

The  affair  of  the  Leopard  and  Chesapeake  in  June 
1807  thrilled  every  member  of  the  family.  Matthew 
begged  that  he  might,  at  once,  enter  the  navy.  This, 


1 6  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

however,  was  not  yet  possible  to  the  boy  of  twelve 
years,  so  he  remained  at  school. 

What  Providence  meant  to  teach,  when  an  Ameri 
can  man-of-war  with  her  decks  littered  up  and  other 
wise  unfit  for  action  was  surprised  by  a  hostile  ship, 
was  not  lost  upon  our  navy.  The  humiliating  but 
salutary  lesson  was  learned  for  all  time.  Neatness, 
vigilance  and  constant  preparation  for  the  possibili 
ties  of  action  are  now  the  characteristics  of  our  naval 
households.  So  far  as  we  know,  no  other  ship  of  our 
country  has  since  been  "  Jeopardized." 

Even  out  of  their  bitter  experience,  the  American 
sailors  took  encouragement.  The  heavy  broadsides 
of  a  fifty-gun  frigate  against  a  silent  ship  had  done 
surprisingly  little  damage.  British  traditions  suffered 
worse  than  the  timbers  of  the  Chesapeake,  or  the 
hearts  of  her  sailors.  The  moral  effect  was  against 
the  offenders,  and  in  favor  of  the  Americans.  The 
mists  of  rumor  and  exaggeration  were  blown  away, 
and  henceforth  our  captains  and  crews  awaited  with 
stern  joy  their  first  onset  with  insolent  oppressors. 
If  ever  the  species  bully  had  developed  an  abominable 
variety,  it  was  the  average  British  navy  captain  of 
the  first  decade  of  this  century. 

Providence  was  severing  the  strings  which  bound 
the  infant  nation  to  her  European  nurse.  If  the 
mere  crossing  of  the  Atlantic  by  the  Anglo  Saxon  or 
Germanic  race  has  been  equivalent  to  five  hundred 
years  of  progress,  we  may,  at  this  day,  be  thankful 
for  the  treacherous  broadsides  of  the  Leopard. 


BOYHOOD  S    ENVIRONMENT.  I? 

Having  a  well  grounded  faith  in  the  future  of  his 
country,  and  in  the  speedy  renown  of  her  navy, 
Captain  Perry  wished  all  his  sons  to  be  naval  officers. 
He  had  confidence  in  American  ships  and  cannon, 
and  believed  that,  handled  by  native  Americans,  they 
were  a  match  for  any  in  the  world.  His  sons  Oliver 
and  Raymond  already  wore  the  uniform.  Early  in 
1808,  he  wrote  to  the  Department  concerning  an  ap 
pointment  for  Matthew.  His  patience  was  not  long 
tried.  Under  date  of  April  23,  1808,  he  received 
word  from  the  secretary,  Paul  Smith,  that  nothing 
stood  in  the  way.  The  receipt  of  the  warrant  as 
midshipman  was  eagerly  awaited  by  the  lad.  On 
the  1 8th  of  January  1809,  the  paper  arrived.  He  was 
ordered  March  i6th  to  the  naval  station  at  New 
York,  where  he  performed  for  several  weeks  such 
routine  duty  as  a  lad  of  his  age  could  do.  He  then 
went  aboard  the  schooner  Revenge,  his  first  home 
afloat. 

In  those  days,  there  being  no  naval  academy,  the 
young  midshipmen  entered  as  mere  boys,  learning 
the  rudiments  of  seamanship  by  actual  practice  on 
ships  at  sea.  Thus  began  our  typical  American 
naval  officer's  long  and  brilliant  career  of  nearly  half  a 
century. 

Matthew  Perry  was  born  when  our  flag  bearing  the 
stars  and  stripes  was  so  new  on  the  seas  as  to  be  re 
garded  with  curiosity.  It  had  then  but  fifteen  stars 
in  its  cluster.  Civilized  states  disregarded  its  neutra 
lity,  and  uncivilized  people  insulted  it  with  impunity. 


1 8  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

The  Tripolitan  war  first  compelled  barbarians  to  re 
spect  the  emblem.  France,  one  of  the  most  power 
ful  and  unscrupulous  of  belligerents,  had  not  yet 
learned  to  honor  its  right  of  neutrality.  Great  Britain, 
to  the  insults  of  spoliation,  added  the  robbery  of  im 
pressment.  Matthew  Perry  entered  the  United 
States  navy  with  a  burning  desire  to  make  this  flag 
respected  in  every  sea.  He  lived  to  command  the 
largest  fleet  which,  in  his  lifetime  ever  gathered 
under  its  folds,  and  to  bear  it  to  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  in  the  first  steam  frigate  of  the  United 
States  which  ever  circumnavigated  the  globe. 


CHAPTER    III. 

A  MIDSHIPMAN'S  TRAINING  UNDER  COMMODORE 

RODGERS. 

THE  schooner  Revenge,  commanded  by  his  brother 
Oliver,  to  which  Matthew  Perry  was  ordered  for 
his  first  cruise,  had  been  purchased  in  1807.  She 
mounted  twelve  guns,  had  a  crew  of  ninety  men, 
and  was  attached  to  the  squadron  under  Commodore 
John  Rodgers,  which  numbered  four  frigates,  five 
sloops,  and  some  smaller  vessels.  His  duty  was  to 
guard  our  coasts  from  the  Chesapeake  to  Passama- 
quodcly  Bay,  to  prevent  impressment  of  American 
sailors  by  British  cruisers.  The  Revenge  was  to 
cruise  between  Montauk  Point  and  Nantucket 
Shoals. 

Boy  as  he  was,  Matthew  Perry  seems  not  to  have 
relished  the  idea  of  serving  in  a  coasting  schooner. 
Having  an  opportunity  to  make  a  voyage  to  the  East 
Indies,  the  idea  of  visiting  Asia  fascinated  his  imag 
ination.  It  seemed  to  offer  a  fine  field  for  obtaining 
nautical  knowledge.  Bombay  was  at  this  time  the 
seat  of  British  naval  excellence  in  ship  building,  and 
an  eighty-gun  vessel,  built  of  teak  or  India  oak,  was 
launched  every  three  years.  A  petition  for  furlough 
was  not,  however,  granted  arid  the  voyage  to  Asia 
was  postponed  nearly  half  a  century. 


2O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Under  such  a  commander,  and  with  his  brother 
Oliver,  the  boy  Matthew  was  initiated  into  active 
service.  The  Revenge  kept  look  out  during  summer 
and  winter,  and  in  April  went  southward  to  Wash 
ington  and  the  Carolinas. 

As  there  was  as  yet  nothing  to  do  but  to  be  vigilant 
and  to  prepare  for  the  war  which  was  —  unless  Great 
Britain  changed  her  impressment  policy  —  sure  to 
come,  daily  attention  was  given  to  drill.  The  sailors 
were  especially  taught  to  keep  cool  and  bide  their 
time  to  fire.  All  the  Perrys,  father  and  sons,  were 
diligent  students  of  ordnance  and  gunnery.  They 
were  masters  of  both  theory  and  practice.  Among 
the  list  of  subscribers  to  Toussard's  Artillerist, 
written  at  the  request  of  Washington,  and  pub 
lished  in  1809,  is  the  name  of  Oliver  H.  Perry. 

On  the  1 2th  of  October,  1810,  Midshipman  M.  C. 
Perry  was  ordered  from  the  Revenge  (which  was 
wrecked  off  Watch  Hill,  R.  I.,  January  8,  1811)  to 
the  frigate  President.  This  brought  him  on  the  flag 
ship,  the  finest  of  the  heavy  frigates  of  1797,  and 
directly  under  the  eye  of  Commodore  Rodgers.  On 
the  i6th  of  October  she  went  on  a  short  cruise  of 
ten  days  and  returned  to  her  port  for  the  winter, 
where  Raymond  Perry  joined  him.  News  of  the 
whereabouts  of  the  British  ships  Shannon  and  Gncr- 
riere  was  regularly  received,  and  the  crew  kept  alert 
and  ready  for  work  with  the  press-gang.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  three  years  service  by  the  two 
Perry  brothers  on  this  famous  ship. 


A    MIDSHIPMAN  S    TRAINING.  21 

From  March  19,  1811,  until  July  25,  1813,  Mat 
thew  kept  a  diary  in  which  he  made  observations 
relating  chiefly  to  the  weather  and  matters  of  tech 
nical  interest,  with  occasional  items  of  historical 
value.  The  boyish  ambition  for  ample  proportions 
in  the  book  is  offset  by  the  accuracy  studied  in  the 
entries,  and  the  excessive  modesty  of  all  statements 
relating  to  himself,  even  to  his  wound  received  by 
the  bursting  of  a  gun.  It  contains  frequent  refer 
ence  to  personages  whose  congenial  home  was  the 
quarter-deck,  the  lustre  of  whose  names  still  glitters 
in  history  like  the  fresh  sand  which  they  sprinkled 
on  their  letters  —  now  entombed  in  the  naval 
archives  at  Washington. 

From  the  first,  the  bluff  disciplinarian,  Commo 
dore  Rodgers,  took  a  kindly  interest  in  his  midship 
man.  He  was  especially  exacting  of  his  juniors 
whom  he  liked,  or  in  whom  he  saw  promise.  His 
dignity,  discipline  and  spirit,  were  models  constantly 
imitated  by  his  pupils. 

One  day,  while  on  duty  on  that  part  of  the  deck 
which  roofed  the  commodore's  cabin,  Matthew  Perry 
paced  up  and  down  his  beat  with,  what  seemed  to 
the  occupant  below,  an  unnecessarily  noisy  stride. 
Irate  at  being  disturbed  while  writing,  the  commo 
dore  rushed  out  on  deck,  demanded  the  spy  glass 
and  bade  Perry  to  put  himself  in  his  superior's  place 
in  the  cabin,  and  sit  there  to  learn  how  the  iniquity 
of  his  heels  sounded.  Then  with  ponderous  tread, 
exaggerated  stride,  and  mock  dignity,  the  commo- 


22  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

dore  of  the  whole  fleet  gave  a  dramatic  object- 
lessont  It  profited  the  lad  no  less  than  it  amused 
the  spectators. 

Soon  after  this,  Perry  was  made  commodore's  aid. 

The  diary  shows  that  constant  exercise  at  the 
"great  guns  and  small  arms"  was  practiced.  Rodg- 
ers  knew  that  his  men  were  to  meet  the  heroes  of 
Trafalgar,  and  he  believed  that  American  gunnery 
would  quickly  settle  questions  over  which  diplomacy 
had  become  impotent. 

The  President,  leaving  New  London  for  New 
York,  set  sail  April  22  for  Annapolis,  casting 
anchor  opposite  Fort  Severn,  May  2.  Here  the 
vessel  lay  for  ten  days.  As  everything  was  quiet 
along  the  coast,  Commodore  Rodgers  went  to  his 
home  at  Havre  de  Grace,  seventy  miles  distant,  to 
visit  his  family.  The  purser  and  chaplain  took  atrip 
to  Washington,  and  on  board  all  was  as  quiet  as  a 
city  church  aisle  in  summer. 

Late  at  night,  May  6,  there  came  dispatches  from 
the  Navy  Department.  Two  men  had  been  taken 
from  the  merchant  brig,  Spitfire,  within  eighteen 
miles  of  New  York.  One  of  the  young  men  im 
pressed,  John  Deguys,  was  known  to  the  captain  to 
be  a  native  of  Maine.  The  Guerriere,  Captain 
Dacres,  was,  as  usual,  suspected. 

The  news  created  great  excitement,  for  the  con 
stant  search  of  American  ships  and  the  impressment 
of  such  men,  as  the  arrogant  English  captains  chose 
to  call  British  "subjects,"  had  roused  our  sailors'  ire. 


A    MIDSHIPMAN  S    TRAINING.  23 

They  burned  to  change  this  disgraceful  state  of 
things  and  to  avenge  the  Chesapeake  affair.  The 
officers  of  the  Guerriere,  painting  the  name  of  their 
frigate  on  her  topsails,  in  large  white  letters,  had 
been  conspicuous  for  their  bravado  in  insulting 
American  merchant  captains. 

This  was  the  age  of  British  boasting  on  the  sea, 
of  huge  canvas  and  enormous  flags.  For  during 
nigh  two  score  years,  the  British  sailors,  "lords  of 
the  main,"  had  ruled  the  waves,  rarely  losing  a  ship, 
and  never  a  squadron,  in  their  numerous  battles. 
Uninterrupted  success  had  bred  many  bullies.  The 
trade  of  New  York  had  been  injured  by  these  an 
noying  searches  and  delays.  The  orders  to  Commo 
dore  Rodgers  were  to  proceed  at  once  to  stop  the 
outrageous  proceedings.  The  vexed  question  of  im 
pressment  bad,  since  1790,  caused  an  incredible 
amount  of  negotiation.  It  was  now  to  pass  out  of 
the  hands  of  secretaries  into  the  control  of  our  naval 
captains,  with  power  to  solve  the  problem. 

To  get  the  dispatches  to  the  commodore  was  the 
duty  in  hand.  Neither  steamer  nor  telegraph  could 
then  help  to  perform  it ;  but  hearts  and  hands  were 
true,  and  Matthew  Perry  was  ready  to  show  the  stuff 
of  which  he  was  made.  Captain  Ludlow  at  once 
entrusted  the  delicate  matter  to  the  commodore's 
aid. 

Matthew  Perry  set  out  before  daylight  in  the  com 
modore's  gig.  The  pull  of  seventy  miles  was  made 
against  a  head  wind.  Taking  his  seat  at  the  helm, 


24  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

he  cheered  on  his  men,  but  it  was  a  long  and  hard 
day's  work.  It  was  nearly  dark  when  the  lights  of 
the  village  danced  in  the  distance.  At  this  moment 
one  of  the  men  dropped  his  oar,  and  sank  back  with 
the  blood  gushing  from  his  mouth  and  nostrils.  In 
his  over-strain  he  had  burst  a  blood  vessel. 

Rodgers  at  once  took  the  boat,  and  with  the  wind 
in  his  favor  hoisted  sail.  At  3  p.  M.,  May  7,  as  Captain 
Ludlow  was  dining  on  the  sloop  Argus,  near  the 
President,  the  gig  was  descried  five  miles  distant 
bearing  the  broad  pennant.  Perry,  in  his  journal, 
modestly  omits,  as  is  customary  with  him,  all  refer 
ence  to  this  exploit  of  bringing  back  the  commo 
dore.  But  under  the  entry  of  May  10,  he  writes  . 
"At  10  hoisted  out  the  launch,  carried  out  a  kedge 
and  warped  the  ship  out  of  the  roads." 

The  President  put  to  sea  with  her  name  boldly 
blazoned  on  her  three  topsails  like  the  Guerriere  s. 
All  on  board  were  ready  and  eager  for  an  opportu 
nity  to  wipe  out  this  last  disgrace.  Perry  writes,  on 
the  1 3th  :  "At  3  spoke  the  brig  ....  from  Trin 
idad  —  informed  us  that  the  day  before  she  was 
boarded  by  an  English  sloop-of-war."  "At  7  the 
Argus  hove  to  alongside  of  us.  Captain  Lawrence 
came  on  board  —  at  8  Captain  L.  left  the  ship." 
Next  day  "at  3  exercised  great  guns";  "at  half- 
past  8  passed  New  Point  Comfort.  At  10  opened 
the  magazine  and  took  out  thirty-two  twenty-four 
pound  and  twenty-four  forty-two  pound  cartridges." 

At    i    o'clock  in   the    afternoon    of    the    i/th,    a 


A    MIDSHIPMAN  S    TRAINING.  25 

strange  sail  was  noticed  —  the  ensign  and  pennant 
were  raised,  the  ship  was  cleared  for  action  and  the 
crew  beat  to  quarters.  The  signals  of  the  strange 
ship  were  not  answered.  The  two  ships  were  at  this 
time  but  a  few  leagues  south  of  Sandy  Hook. 

The  stranger  ship  was  none  other  than  the  British 
sloop-of-war  Little  Belt,  carrying  twenty-two  guns. 
As  what  took  place  really  precipitated  the  war  of 
1812,  we  give  the  record  from  Perry's  diary  without 
alteration. 

"  At  7  P.  M.  the  chase  took  in  her  studding-sails, 
distant  about  eight  miles.  At  ten  or  twelve  minutes 
past  7  she  rounded  to  on  the  starboard-tack.  At 
half-past  7  shortened  sail.  At  half-past  8  rounded 
to  on  her  weather  beam,  within  half  a  cable's  length 
of  her ;  hailed  and  asked  '  what  ship  is  that '  ?  to 
which  she  replied,  '  what  ship  is  that '  ?  and  on  the 
commodore's  asking  the  second  time  'what  ship  is 
that'  ?  received  a  shot  from  her  which  was  immedi 
ately  returned  from  our  gun-deck,  but  was  scarcely 
fired  before  she  fired  three  other  guns  accompanied 
with  musquetry.  We  then  commenced  a  general 
fire  which  lasted  about  fifteen  minutes,  when  the 
order  was  given  to  cease  firing,  our  adversary  being 
silent  and  apparently  in  much  distress.  At  9  hauled 
on  a  wind  'on  the  starboard  tack,  the  strange  ship 
having  dropped  astern  so  far  that  the  commodore 
did  not  choose  to  follow,  supposing  that  he  had  suf 
ficiently  chastised  her  for  her  insolence  in  firing  into 
an  American  frigate.  Kept  our  battle-lanthorns 


26  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

burning.  After  having  examined  the  damage,  found 
that  the  ship  had  her  foremast  and  mainmast 
wounded  and  some  rigging  shot  away — one  boy 
only  wounded  —  before  daylight  the  masts  were 
fished,  moulded  and  painted,  and  everything  taut. 

"  At  5  A.  M.  discovered  the  strange  sail  and  bore 
down  for  her.  At  8  came  alongside  and  sent  a  boat 
aboard  her.  She  was  lying  in  a  very  shattered  situa 
tion  ;  no  sail  bent  except  her  maintopsail ;  her  rig 
ging  all  shot  away;  three  or  four  shots  through  her 
masts ;  several  between  wind  and  water ;  her  gaft 
shot  away,  etc.  At  9  the  boat  returned ;  she  proved 
to  be  the  British  ship-of-war  Little  Belt,  Captain 
Bingham  ;  permitted  her  to  proceed  on  her  course, 
hoisted  the  boat  up  and  hauled  by  the  wind  on  the 
larboard  tack;  ends  clear  and  pleasant." 

In  this  battle  the  young  midshipman  first  heard  a 
hostile  shot  and  received  his  initial  "  baptism  of 
fire."  The  accounts  of  this  affair  given  by  the  two 
commanders,  Rodgers  and  Bingham,  cannot  be  rec 
onciled.  Captain  Bingham,  acquitted  of  blame,  was 
promoted  February  7,  1812,  to  post-rank  in  the 
British  navy.  The  event  widened  the  breach  be 
tween  the  two  nations,  and  was  the  foreshadowing 
of  coming  events  not  long  to  be  postponed.  Prob 
ably  Rodgers'  chief  regret  was  that  the  punished 
vessel  had  not  been  the  Guerriere. 

The  rest  of  the  year,  1811,  was  spent  by  our  sail 
ors  in  constant  readiness  and  unremitting  discipline 
in  order  to  secure  the  highest  state  of  naval  efn- 


A    MIDSHIPMAN  S    TRAINING.  2/ 

ciency.  Exercise  at  the  carronades  and  long  guns 
was  a  daily  task.  The  coming  war  on  the  ocean  was 
to  be  a  contest  in  gunnery,  and  to  be  won  by  tacti 
cal  skill,  long  guns,  and  superiority  in  artillery  prac 
tice.  Nothing  was  left  to  chance  on  the  American 
ships.  Congress  had  neglected  the  navy  since  the 
Tripolitan  war,  and  with  embargoes,  non-intercourse 
acts,  and  a  puerile  gun-boat  system,  practically  at 
tempted  to  paralyze  this  arm  of  defence.  Commo 
dore  Rodgers'  squadron  was  an  exception  to  the 
general  system,  and  his  was  the  sole  squadron  ser 
viceable  when  the  declaration  of  hostilities  came. 

Rodgers  hoped  by  speedy  victories  to  demonstrate 
the  power  of  the  American  heavy  frigate  to  blow  to 
atoms  "the  gun-boat  system,"  and  change  British 
insolence  into  respect.  Lack  of  opportunity  caused 
him  personal  disappointment ;  but  his  faith  and 
creed  were  fully  justified  by  the  naval  campaign 
of  1812. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MEN,    SHIPS    AND    GUNS    IN    1 8 1 2. 

COMMODORE  JOHN  RODGERS  was  a  man  of  the 
time,  a  typical  naval  officer  of  the  period.  He  was 
minutely  careful  about  the  food  and  habits  of  his 
men,  and  made  the  President  as  homelike  as  a  ship 
could  be.  He  was  not  precisely  a  man  of  science,  as 
was  the  case  with  his  son  in  the  monitor  WccJiawkeUy 
for  this  was  the  pre-scientific  age  of  naval  warfare. 
Indeed,  it  can  scarcely  be  said  with  truth  that  he  had 
either  patience  with  or  appreciation  of  Robert  Fulton, 
the  Pennsylvania!!  whose  inventions  were  destined  to 
revolutionize  the  methods  of  naval  warfare.  This 
mechanical  genius  who  anticipated  steam  frigates, 
iron  armor,  torpedoes  and  rams,  rather  amused  than 
interested  Rodgers.  To  the  commodore,  who  ex 
pected  no  miracles,  he  seemed  to  possess  "Con 
tinuity  but  not  ingenuity."  Fulton  had  not  yet  per 
fected  his  apparatus,  though  he  had  in  1804  blown 
up  a  Danish  frigate  off  Copenhagen,  and  in  1810  had 
published  in  New  York  his  "  Torpedo  War  and  Sub 
marine  Explosion."  This  book  is  full  of  illustrations 
so  clear,  that  to  look  at  them  now  provokes  the  won 
der  that  his  schemes  found  so  little  encouragement. 
Five  thousand  dollars  were  appropriated  by  Congress 


MEN,   SHIPS    AND    GUNS    IN     1 8 12.  2Q 

March  30  1810,  for  submarine  torpedo  experiments. 
Discouragement  evidently  followed  :  for  our  govern 
ment  in  1811,  following  the  example  of  France  and 
England  rejected  his  plans  for  a  submarine  torpedo 
boat. 

"The  Battle  of  the  Kegs"  was  too  often  referred 
to  in  connection  with  Fulton's  projects.  This  threw 
a  humorous  but  not  luminous  glow  over  the  whole 
matter.  It  gave  to  a  serious  scientific  subject  very 
much  the  same  air  as  that  which  Irving  has  suc 
ceeded  in  casting  over  the  early  history  of  New 
York. 

Having  glanced  at  the  typical  American  com 
mander,  let  us  now  see  what  kind  of  sailors  handled 
the  ships  and  guns  of  1812.  In  an  old  order  book  of 
Commodore  Rodgers',  we  find  one  to  midshipman 
M.  C.  Perry,  dated  "President  off  Sandy  Hook  26th 
May  1813,"  directing  him  to  proceed  to  New  York 
and  enter  for  the  ship  six  petty  officers  and  fifty  sea-  ' 
men  and  boys.  From  this  we  may  guess  the  quality 
of  the  crews  of  American  men-of-war. 

"  You  are  desired  to  be  particular  in  entering  none 
but  American  citizens,  and  indeed,  native-born  citi 
zens  in  preference."  He  is  especially  directed  to 
ship  good  healthy  men  able  to  perform  duty,  active 
and  robust,  while  only  those  of  good  character  and 
appearance  are  to  be  accepted  for  the  warrant  and 
petty  officers.  As  Matthew  Perry  was  but  seventeen  i 
years  of  age,  the  order  shows  the  confidence  his  com 
mander  placed  in  his  judgement.  In  Perry's  diary 


3O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

the  simple  entry  under  May  28  is  "At  12  p.  M.  the 
pilot  boat  left  the  ship  with  Mr,  Hunt  and  Midp.  M. 
C.  Perry  as  a  recruiting  officer  for  the  ship." 

It  is  the  favorite  idea  of  Englishmen  who  have 
formed  their  opinions  from  James  the  popular  histo 
rian  of  the  British  navy,  that  the  victories  of  Ameri 
can  ships  over  their  own  in  1812  were  owing  to  the 
British  deserters  among  the  Yankees.  James,  with 
amazing  credulity,  believes  that  there  were  two  hun 
dred  Englishmen  on  the  Constitution,  that  two-thirds 
of  the  sailors  in  the  navy  of  the  United  States  were 
bred  on  the  soil  and  educated  in  the  ships  of  Great 
Britian,  and  to  these  our  navy  owed  at  least  one  half 
of  its  effectiveness. 

It  is  much  nearer  the  truth  to  state  that  nine- 
tenths  of  the  American  crews  were  native-born,  and 
but  about  one-twentieth  of  British  nationality,  the 
rest  being  a  mixture.  Three-fourths  of  the  natives 
were  from  the  northern  states  ;  half  of  the  remain 
ing  quarter  from  Virginia,  and  nearly  all  of  respect 
able  parentage. 

Of  the  officers,  the  midshipmen  were  lads  of  from 
eleven  to  fifteen  years  of  age.  There  were  in  com 
mission  during  the  war  about  500  naval  officers  34,- 
960  sailors  and  petty  officers,  and  2,725  marines. 
The  government  possessed  six  navy  yards. 

In  addition  to  the  officer's  knowledge  of  the  scien 
tific  principle  of  gunnery,  and  the  thorough  familiar 
ity  of  the  gun-crews  with  their  duties,  each  ship's 
company  when  away  from  its  cannon  was  a  disci- 


MEN,   SHIPS    AND    GUNS    IX    l8l2.  3! 

plined  battalion.  The  manual  of  small  arms  compre 
hended  every  possible  stroke  of  offence  and  defence. 
Pikes,  cutlasses  and  axes  were  the  weapons  relied  on, 
though  a  few  rifles,  in  the  hands  of  sharp  shooters 
perched  in  the  crows-nests  and  in  the  tops,  and  a 
brace  of  pistols  at  each  man's  belt  had  their  places. 
The  Yankee  cutlass  had  already  crossed  with  the 
Moorish  scimetar  at  Tripoli,  in  more  than  one  vic 
tory,  and  "our  sailors  felt  a  just  confidence  in  its 
merits."*  The  pike  was  the  boarding  weapon,  the 
sailor's  bayonet,  with  which  he  charged  the  enemy 
on  his  own  decks,  or  repelled  his  attacks,  and  was 
not  the  least  of  small  arms.  The  war  of  1812,  with 
men  speaking  the  same  language,  was  practically  a 
civil  war  in  which  the  sword  was  again  to  be  taken 
up  against  equals  in  every  respect.  Hence  the  need 
of  constant  practice  in  handling  tools.  The  uninter 
rupted  drill  bore  its  fruit  in  due  season. 

One  potent  secret  of  American  excellence  of 
naval  service,  which  raised  our  standard  of  war  ships 
and  guns  even  higher  than  the  highest  in  Europe, 
was  the  rule  of  promotion  for  merit.  This  nerved 
every  sailor  and  petty  officer  to  do  nothing  less  than 
his  best  at  all  times.  In  this  respect,  the  navy  of 
the  western  world  contrasted  effectively  with  that  of 
Great  Britain,  where  commissions  were  bought  and 
sold  in  open  market. 

The  Yankee  captain  taught  his  men  to  take  pride 

*  Roosevelt's  "  Naval  Historv  of  the  War  of  1812." 


32  MATTHEW    CALBEAITH    PERRY. 

in  their  guns  as  if  they  were  human.      Of  many  an 
American  sailor  in  1812  it  could  be  said: 

"  His  conscience  and  his  gun,  he  thought 
His  duty  lay  between." 

The  American  men-of-war  went  to  sea  with  sights 
on  their  guns  that  enabled  a  cannonneer  to  fire  with 
nearly  the  accuracy  of  a  rifle.  In  their  occasional 
use  of  sheet-lead  cartridges,  which  required  less 
sponging  and  worming  after  firing  than  those  of 
flannel  and  of  paper,  they  anticipated  the  copper 
shells  of  recent  American  invention. 

The  broadsides  of  that  day  may  seem  to  us  ridic 
ulous  in  weight,  as  compared  to  those  of  our  time. 
A  projectile  from  an  iron-clad  now  exceeds  the  entire 
mass  of  metal  thrown  by  the  largest  of  the  old  linc-of- 
battle  ships.  The  heaviest  broadside  in  the  United 
States  in  1812  —  that  thrown  by  the  United  States 
carrying  fifty-four  guns  —  was  but  846  pounds. 
Nevertheless  the  American  ships  had  usually  heavier 
and  better  guns  and  of  longer  range  than  the  British. 
The  power  of  a  line-of-battle  ship  had  been  condensed 
into  the  space  of  a  frigate.  This  was  the  American 
idea,  to  increase  the  weight  of  metal  thrown  in  broad 
side  without  altering  the  ship's  rating. 

With  their  guns  every  man  and  boy  on  board  was 
constantly  familiar  by  daily  practice,  and  the  name  and 
purpose  of  each  rope,  crook,  pulley,  and  cleet  on  the 
carriages  were  fully  known  to  all.  It  must  be  re 
membered  that  horizontal  shell-firing  was  unknown 
sixty  years  ago.  Bombs  could  be  thrown  only  from 


MEN,  SHIPS    AND    GUNS    IN    l8l2.  33 

mortars  as  in  a  land  siege,  but  never  from  cannon  in 
naval  duels,  though  short  howitzers  were  occasionally 
employed  in  Europe  to  fire  bombs.  "  Bomb-guns, 
firing  hollow  shot,"  on  ships,  were  not  invented  until 
1824.  The  seeming  advantage  to  the  old  time  sailor, 
in  his  exemption  from  exploding  shells,  was  in  reality 
and  from  a  humane  point  of  view,  a  disadvantage ; 
since  in  navals  annals  short  sharp  engagements  were 
less  common.  A  vast  waste  of  ammunition  causing 
"prolonged  mutilation  and  slaughter"  was  rather  the 
rule.  It  was  the  coolness  of  the  American  cannon- 
neer,  his  economy  in  firing  his  gun  only  when  he 
was  reasonably  sure  of  hitting,  his  ability  to  hold  the 
linstock  from  the  touch-hole  till  the  word  was  given 
to  fire,  that  made  the  duels  of  1812  short  and  deci 
sive. 

As  a  feeble  substitute  for  bomb-shells,  the  Ameri 
cans  were  driven  to  the  use  of  all  sorts  of  hardware 
and  blacksmith's  scraps  as  projectiles.  This  kind  of 
shot  was  called'*  langrel  "  or  "langrage,"  and  the  metal 
magazine  of  a  cruiser  in  1812  would  be  sure  to  cause 
merriment  if  looked  into  in  our  decade.  In  old  and 
in  recent  times,  each  combatant  aimed  to  destroy  the 
propelling  power  of  the  other.  As  the  main  design 
now  is  to  strike  the  boiler  and  disable  the  machinery, 
so  then  the  first  object  was  to  cut  up  the  sails  and 
rigging,  so  as  to  reduce  the  ship  to  a  hulk.  For  the 
purpose,  our  blacksmiths  and  inventors  were  called 
onto  furnish  all  sorts  of  ripping  and  tearing  missiles  and 
every  species  of  dismantling  shot.  Their  anvils  turned 


34  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

off  " star  shot,"  "chain  shot,"  "sausages,"  "double- 
headers,"  "porcupines"  and  "hedge-hogs."  The  "star 
shot  "  made  of  four  wrought  iron  bolts  hammered  to  a 
ring  folded  like  a  frame  of  umbrella  rods.  On  firing, 
this  camp  stool  arrangement  expanded  its  rays  to  the 
detriment  of  the  enemy's  cordage  and  canvas.  The 
"sausage"  consisted  of  four  or  six  links,  each  twelve 
inches  long  and  when  rammed  home  resemble  a  dis 
jointed  fishing  pole  or  artist's  sketching  chair  packed 
up.  When  belched  forth  it  was  converted  into  a 
swinging  line  of  iron  six  feet  long  which  made  havoc 
among  the  ropes.  The  "double  header"  resemble  a 
dumb  bell.  The  "chain  shot"  "porcupine"  and 
"  hedge-hog  "  explain  themselves  by  their  names.  Such 
projectiles,  with  a  small  blacksmith's  shop  of  bolts  and 
spikes,  were  to  the  weight  of  half  a  ton,  taken  out  of  the 
side  of  the  Shannon  after  her  fight  with  the  CJtcsapcakc 
and  sold  at  auction  in  Halifax  where  most  of  them 
were  converted  into  horse-shoes  and  other  innocent 
articles.  In  preparing  for  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie, 
all  the  scraps  of  iron  saved  at  the  forges  were  sewn 
in  leather  bags.  This  flying  cutlery  helped  largely 
to  disable  the  enemy  and  bring  about  the  victory. 
In  battle,  the  carronades  charged  with  this  "lan- 
grage  "  were  tilted  high  and  pointed  at  the  rigging, 
while  the  solid  shot  of  the  regular  broadsides  hulled 
the  enemy  with  decisive  effect.  This  kind  of  pro 
jectile,  though  it  had  been  in  use  in  Europe  since 
1/20,  was  denounced  by  the  British  as  inhuman  and 
uncivilized.  As  the  history  of  war  again  and  again 


MEN,   SHIPS    AND    GUNS    IN     l8l2.  35 

proves,  what  is  first  denounced  as  barbarous  is  finally 
adopted  as  fair  against  an  enemy. 

The  British  neglected  artillery  practice  and  knew 
little  of  nice  gunnery.  Their  carronades  and  long 
deck  guns  were  less  securely  fastened,  and  were  often 
over  charged.  By  their  recoil  they  were  often  kicked 
over  and  rendered  useless  during  a  fight.  A  terrible 
picture  in  words  is  given  by  Victor  Hugo  in  his  "93" 
of  a  carronade  let  loose  in  a  storm  on  the  deck  of  a 
French  ship.  British  discipline  too,  had  fallen  behind 
the  standard  of  Nelson's  day.  A  nearly  uninterrupted 
series  of  victories  had  so  spoiled  with  conceit  the 
average  English  naval  man  that  he  felt  it  unnecessary 
if  not  impossible  to  learn  from  an  enemy.  In  the 
autobiography  of  Henry  Taylor,  the  author  of  "  Philip 
Van  Artevelde,"  who  in  his  youth  was  midshipman 
on  a  British  frigate  in  1812,  he  tells  us  that  during  a 
whole  year  he  was  not  once  in  the  rigging.  Very 
little  attention  was  paid  to  scientific  gunnery,  and 
target  practice  was  rare.  In  some  ships,  not  a  ball 
was  shot  from  a  gun  in  three  years.  Dependence 
was  placed  on  the  number  of  cannon  rather  than  on 
their  quality,  equipment  or  service.  They  counted 
rather  than  weighed  their  shot.  Most  of  the  British 
frigates  were  over-gunned. 

The  carronade,  invented  in  1779,  had  become 
immediately  popular,  and  by  1781  four  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  British  war  vessels  were  equipped  with 
from  six  to  ten  carronades.  These  were  above  their 
regular  complement  and  not  included  in  the  rate  or 


36  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

enumeration.  Hence  a  "thirty-eight,"  a  "forty-two," 
or  a  "seventy-four"  gun-ship  might  have  many  more 
muzzles  than  her  professed  complement.  The  fearful 
effect  of  short  range  upon  the  timber  of  ships  enabled 
the  British  to  convert  their  enemy's  walls  into  mis 
siles,  and  make  splinters  their  ally  in  the  work  of  death 
and  mutilation.  Farragut's  "splinter  nettings"  were 
then  unknown  nor  dreamed  of.  Hence  the  terrific 
proverbial  force  of  the  British  broadsides  in  the  Nile 
and  at  Trafalgar.  After  such  demonstration  of  power, 
such  manifest  superiority  over  foemen  worthy  of  their 
steel,  it  seemed  absurd  in  British  eyes  to  make 
special  preparation,  or  abandon  old  routine  in  order 
to  meet  the  Yankees  in  their  "pine  board  "  and  "fir 
built  "  frigates.  What  they  had  done  with  the  French 
they  expected  to  with  the  Americans,  and  more  easily. 
They  did  not  know  the  virtues  of  the  American  long 
guns  nor  the  rapidity,  coolness,  and  unerring  accuracy 
of  the  American  artillerists.  They  were  now  to  learn 
new  lessons  in  the  art  of  war.  They  were  to  fight 
with  sailors  who  took  aim. 

At  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  our  naval  force  in 
ships  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  gun-boats 
afloat,  three  second  class  frigates  under  repair,  three 
old  brigs  rotten  and  worthless,  with  five  brigs  and 
sloops,  three  first  class  and  two  second  class  frigates 
which  were  seaworthy.  After  the  embargo  of  April 
1 4th  most  of  the  fast  sailers  in  the  American  mer 
chant  service  were  converted  into  privateers. 

The  British  naval  force  all  told  consisted  of  over  a 


MEN,  SHIPS    AND    GUNS    IN    l8l2.  37 

thousand  sail  and  her  sailors  were  flushed  with  the 
remembrances  of  Aboukir  and  Trafalgar.  Before 
hostilities  and  at  the  date  of  the  declaration  of  war, 
there  were  off  our  coast  the  Africa,  one  sixty-four 
gun  ship ;  the  Shannon,  Guerriere,  Belvidera,  and 
Eolus,  second  class  frigates ;  besides  several  smaller 
vessels. 

The  war  with  Great  Britain,  our  "  second  war  for  in 
dependence  "  was  declared  when  the  treasury  was 
empty  and  the  cabinet  divided.  Some  pamphleteers 
stigmatized  it  as  "Mr.  Madison's  war."  So  great  was 
the  cowardly  fear  of  British  invincibility  on  the  seas, 
and  so  shameful  and  unjust  were  the  suspicions  against 
our  navy  that  many  counsellors  at  Washington 
urged  that  the  national  vessels  should  keep  within 
tide-water  and  act  only  as  harbor  batteries.  To  the 
earnest  personal  remonstrance  of  Captains  Bainbridge 
and  Stewart  we  owe  it  that  our  vessels  got  to  sea  to 
win  a  glory  imperishable. 

Borrowing  a  point  from  the  English  who,  in  older 
days,  usually  chose  their  time  to  declare  war  when  the 
richly  laden  Dutch  galleons  were  on  their  homeward 
voyage  from  the  Indies,  President  Madison  and 
Congress,  hoping  to  fill  the  depleted  treasury, 
passed  the  act  declarative  of  war  about  the  time  the 
Jamaica  plate  fleet  of  eighty-five  vessels  was  to  arrive 
off  our  coast.  This  sailed  from  Negril  Bay  on  the 
2oth  of  May  and  war  against  Great  Britain  was  de 
clared  on  the  1 2th  of  June,  at  least  one  week  too  late. 


CHAPTER    V, 

SERVICE    IN    THE    WAR    OF    l8l26 

Ix  these  clays  of  submarine  cables,  the  European 
armies  in  South  Africa  or  Cochin  China  receive 
orders  from  London  or  Paris  on  the  day  of  their 
issue.  To  us,  the  tardiness  of  transmission  in  Perry's 
youth,  seems  incredible.  Although  war  was  declared 
on  the  1 2th  of  June,  official  information  did  not 
reach  the  army  officers  until  June  2Oth,  and  the  naval 
commanders  until  the  2ist.  In  Perry's  diary  of 
June  2Oth  1812,  this  entry  is  made:  "  At  10  A.  M. 
news  arrived  that  war  would  be  declared  the  follow 
ing  day  against  G.  B.  Made  the  signal  for  all  officers 
and  boats.  Unmoored  ship  and  fired  a  salute." 

At  3.30  P.  M.  next  day,  within  sixty  minutes  of  the 
arrival  of  the  news,  the  squadron,  consisting  of  the 
President,  United  States,  Congress,  Argus,  and  Hornet* 
about  one-third  of  the  whole  sea-worthy  naval  force 
of  the  nation,  moved  out  into  the  ocean. 

The  British  man-of-war,  Belvidera,  was  cruising  off 
Nantucket  shore  awaiting  the  French  privateer,, 
Marengo,  hourly  expected  from  New  London.  Cap 
tain  Byron  had  heard  of  the  likelihood  of  war  from  a 
New  York  pilot,  and  his  crew  was  ready  for  emer 
gencies.  At  eight  o'clock  next  morning,  the  lookout 


SERVICE    IX    THE    WAR    OF    1 8 12.  39 

on  the  President  when  off  Nantucket  Shoal,  caught 
sight  of  a  strange  frigate.  Every  stitch  of  canvas 
was  put  on  the  masts  and  stays,  and  a  race,  which 
was  kept  up  all  day,  was  begun.  The  President, 
being  just  out,  was  heavily  loaded,  and,  until  after 
noon,  the  Belvidera  by  lightening  ship  kept  well 
ahead.  When  it  became  evident  to  Captain  Byron. 
the  British  commander,  that  he  must  fight,  he 
ordered  the  deck  cleared,  ran  out  four  stern  guns, 
two  of  which  were  eighteen  pounders  and  on  the 
main  deck.  He  hoisted  his  colors  at  half  past  twelve. 
His  cartridges  were  picked,  but  his  fusing  was  not 
laid  on.  This  was  to  avoid  a  President  and  Little 
Belt  experience.  By  half  past  four,  the  President's 
bow-chaser,  or  "Long  Tom,"  was  within  six  hundred 
yards  distance,  and  the  time  for  firing  the  first  gun 
of  the  war  had  come.  The  long  years  of  patient 
waiting  and  self-control,  under  insults,  were  over. 
The  question  of  the  freedom  of  the  seas  was  to  be 
settled  by  artillery. 

Commodore  Rodgers  desiring  the  personal  honor 
of  firing  the  first  hostile  shot  afloat,  took  his  station 
at  the  starboard  fore-castle  gun.  Perry,  a  boy  of 
seventeen,  stood  beside  ready,  eager,  and  cool.  Wait 
ing  till  the  right  moment,  the  commodore  applied  the 
match.  The  ball  struck  the  Belvidera  in  the  stern 
coat  and  passed  through,  lodging  in  the  ward-room. 
The  corresponding  gun  on  the  main  deck  was  then 
discharged,  and  the  ball  was  seen  to  strike  the 
muzzle  of  one  of  the  enemy's  stern-chasers.  The 


4O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

third  shot  killed  two  men  and  wounded  five  on  the 
Belvidera.  With  such  superb  gunnery,  the  war  of 
1812  opened.  A  few  more  such  shots,  and  the 
prize  would  have  been  in  hand. 

It  was  not  so  to  be.  Nothing  is  more  certain  than 
the  unexpected.  A  slip  came  between  sight  and 
taste,  changing  the  whole  situation. 

Commodore  Rodgers  with  his  younger  officers 
stood  on  the  forecastle  deck  with  glasses  leveled  to 
see  the  effect  of  the  shot  from  the  next  gun  on  the 
deck  beneath  them.  It  was  in  charge  of  Lieutenant 
Gamble.  On  the  match  being  applied,  it  burst. 
The  Commodore  was  thrown  into  the  air  and  his  leg 
broken  by  the  fall.  Matthew  Perry  was  wounded, 
several  of  the  sailors  were  killed,  and  the  forecastle 
deck  was  damaged  badly.  Sixteen  men  were  injured 
by  this  accident.  The  firing  on  the  American  ship 
ceased  for  some  minutes,  until  the  ruins  were  cleared 
away,  and  the  dead  and  wounded  were  removed. 
Meanwhile  the  stern  guns  of  the  Belvidera  were 
playing  vigorously,  and,  during  the  whole  action, 
this  busy  end  of  the  British  vessel  was  alive  with 
smoke  and  flame.  No  fewer  than  three  hundred  shot 
were  fired,  killing  or  wounding  six  of  the  President 's 
crew  though  hurting  the  ship  but  slightly,  notwith 
standing  that,  for  two  and  a  half  hours,  she  lay  in  a 
position  favorable  for  raking.  Having  no  pivot  guns, 
but  hoping  to  cripple  his  enemy  by  a  full  broadside, 
Commode  Rodgers,  when  the  President  had  forged 
ahead,  veered  ship  and  gave  the  enemy  his  full  star- 


SERVICE    IN    THE    WAR    OF    l8l2.  4! 

board  fire.  Failing  of  this  purpose,  he  delivered 
another  broadside  at  five  o'clock,  which  was  as 
useless  as  the  other.  He  then  ordered  the  sails  wet 
and  continued  the  chase.  To  offset  this  advantage 
in  his  enemy,  the  British  captain,  equal  to  the 
situation,  ordered  the  pumps  to  be  manned,  stores, 
anchors  and  boats  to  be  heaved  overboard  to  rid  the 
ship  of  every  superfluous  pound  of  matter.  Four 
teen  tons  of  water  were  started  and,  lightened  of 
much  metal  and  wood,  the  British  ship  gained 
visibly  on  her  opponent.  This  continued  until  six, 
when  the  wind,  being  very  light,  Rodgers,  in  the 
hope  of  disabling  his  antagonist,  "yawed"  again  and 
fired  two  broadsides.  These,  to  the  chagrin  of  the 
gallant  commodore,  fell  short  or  took  slight  effect. 
At  seven  o'clock,  the  Belvidera  was  beyond  range 
and,  near  midnight,  the  chase  was  given  up. 

The  escaping  vessel  got  safely  to  Halifax  carrying 
thither  the  news  that  war  had  been  declared  and  the 
Yankee  cruisers  were  loose  on  the  main.  Instead  of 
the  electric  cable  which  flashes  the  news  in  seconds, 
the  schooner  Mackerel  took  dispatches,  arriving  at 
Portsmouth  July  25th. 

Following  the  trail  left  in  the  "  pathless  ocean  "  by 
the  crumbs  that  fell  from  the  British  table, — fruit 
rinds,  orange  skins  and  cocoa-nut  shells,  the  Ameri 
can  frigate  followed  the  game  until  within  twenty- 
four  hours  of  the  British  channel.  It  was  now  time 
to  be  off.  The  West  India  prize  was  lost. 

Turning   prow  to    Maderia,  Funchal    was    passed 


42  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY 

July  27th.  Sail  was  then  made  for  the  Azores. 
Few  ships  were  seen,  but  fogs  were  frequent. 
Baffled  in  his  desire  to  meet  an  enemy  having  teeth 
to  bite,  Rodgers  would  have  still  kept  his  course, 
but  for  a  fire  in  the  rear.  An  enemy,  feared  more 
than  British  guns,  had  captured  the  ship. 

It  was  the  scurvy.  It  broke  out  so  alarmingly 
that  he  was  obliged  to  hurry  home  at  full  speed. 
Passing  Nantasket  roads  August  3ist.  decks  were 
cleared  for  action.  A  strange  ship  was  in  sight. 
It  was  the  Constitution  which  a  few  days  before  had 
met  and  sunk  their  old  enemy  the  Gncrrierc,  two  oi 
whose  prizes  the  President  had  recaptured. 

In  this,  his  first  foreign  cruise  in  a  man-of-war,  ful 
as  it  was  of  exciting  incidents,  Perry  had  taken  part: 
in  one  battle,  and  the  capture  of  seven  British  Mer 
chant  vessels.  Driven  home  ingloriously  by  the 
chronic  enemy  of  the  naval  household,  he  learned 
well  a  new  lesson.  He  gained  an  experience,  by 
which  not  only  himself  but  all  his  crew  down  to  the 
humblest  sailor  under  his  command,  profited  during 
the  half  century  of  his  service.  In  those  ante-can 
ning  days,  more  lives  were  lost  in  the  navy  by  this 
one  disease  than  by  all  other  causes,  sickness,  battle, 
tempest  or  shipwreck.  "  From  scurvy  "  might  well 
have  been  a  prayer  of  deliverance  in  the  nautical 
litany. 

Perry  was  one  of  the  first  among  American  officers 
to  search  into  the  underlying  causes  of  the  malady. 
He  was  ever  a  rigid  disciplinarian  in  diet,  albeit  a  gen- 


SERVICE    IX    THE    WAR    OF     l8l2.  43 

erous  provider.  To  the  ignorant  he  seemed  almost 
fanatical  in  his  "  anti-scorbutic  "  notions,  though  he 
was  rather  pleased  than  otherwise  at  the  nick  name 
savoring  of  the  green-grocer's  stall  which  Jack  Tar 
with  grateful  facetiousness  lavished  on  him. 

Across  sea,  the  American  frigates  were  described 
by  the  English  newspapers  as  "  disguised  seventy- 
fours  ; "  and,  forthwith,  English  writers  on  naval 
warfare  began  explaining  how  the  incredible  thing 
happened  that  British  frigates  had  lowered  their  flag 
to  apparent  equals.  These  explanations  have  been 
diligently  kept  up  and  copied  for  the  past  seventy-five 
years.  As  late  as  the  international  rifle  match  of 
1877  the  words  of  the  naval  writer,  James,  learned  by 
heart  by  Britons  in  their  youth,  came  to  the  front  in 
the  staple  of  English  editorials  written  to  clear  up  the 
mystery  of  American  excellence  with  the  rifle, —  "The 
young  peasant  or  back-woodsman  carries  a  rifle  barrel 
from  the  moment  he  can  lift  one  to  his  shoulder." 

On  the  eighteenth  of  October,  Rodgers  left  Boston 
with  the  President,  Constitution,  United  States  and 
Argus.  Perry,  unable  to  be  idle,  while  the  ships  lay 
in  Boston  harbor,  had  opened  a  recruiting  office  in 
the  city  enlisting  sailors  for  the  President.  Each 
vessel  of  the  squadron  was  in  perfect  order.  On  the 
loth,  without  knowing  it,  they  passed  near  five 
British  men-of-war.  They  chased  a  thirty-eight  gun 
ship  but  lost  her,  but,  on  the  iSth  off  the  Grand 
Banks  of  Newfoundland  captured  the  British  packet 
Szvalloiv,  having  on  board  eighty-one  boxes  of  gold 


44  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

and  silver  to  the  value  of  $200,000.  On  the  3Oth 
they  chased  the  Galatea  and  lost  her.  During  the 
whole  of  November,  they  met  with  few  vessels. 

Nine  prizes  of  little  value  were  taken.  They 
cruised  eastward  to  Longitude  22  degrees  west  and 
southward  to  17  degrees  north  latitude.  They  re-en 
tered  Boston  on  the  last  month  of  the  year,  1812.  It 
is  no  fault  of  Rodgers  that  he  did  not  meet  an  armed 
ship  at  sea,  and  win  glory  like  that  gained  by  Hull, 
Bainbridge  and  Decatur.  For  Perry,  fortune  was  yet 
reserving  her  favor  and  Providence  a  noble  work. 

Leaving  Boston,  April  30,  the  President  crossed 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Azores,  and  thence  moved  up  to 
ward  North  Cape.  In  these  icy  seas,  Rodgers  hoped 
to  intercept  a  fleet  of  thirty  merchant  vessels  sailing 
from  Archangel,  July  15.  Escaping  after  being 
chased  eighty-four  hours  by  a  British  frigate  and  a 
seventy-four,  Rodgers  returned  from  his  Arctic  ad 
ventures,  and  after  a  five  months'  cruise  cast  anchor 
at  Newport,  September  27.  Twelve  vessels,  with 
two  hundred  and  seventy-one  prisoners,  had  been 
taken  ;  and  the  ships  he  disposed  of  by  cartel,  ran 
som,  sinking,  or  despatch  to  France  or  the  United 
States  as  prizes.  No  less  than  twenty  British  men- 
of-war,  sailing  in  couples  for  safety,  scoured  the  seas 
for  half  a  year,  searching  in  vain  for  the  saucy 
Yankee. 

Three  years  of  service,  under  his  own  eye,  had  so 
impressed  Commodore  Rodgers  with  his  midship 
man,  that,  on  the  3d  of  February,  1813,  he  wrote  to 


SERVICE    IN    THE    WAR    OF     1 8  1 2.  45 

the  Department  asking  that  Perry  be  promoted. 
This  was  granted  February  27,  and,  at  eighteen,. 
Matthew  Perry  became  an  acting  lieutenant.  "  He 
roes  are  made  early." 

Four  of  the  Perry  brothers  served  their  country  in 
the  navy  in  1813;  two  in  the  Lawrence  on  Lake 
Erie,  and  two  on  the  President  at  sea.  An  item  of 
news  that  concerned  them  all,  and  brought  them  to 
her  bedside,  was  their  mother's  illness.  This,  for 
tunately,  was  not  of  long  duration.  At  home,  Mat 
thew  Perry  found  his  commission  as  lieutenant, 
dated  July  24.  Of  the  forty-four  promotions,  made 
on  that  date,  he  ranked  number  fourteen.  Request 
ing  a  change  to  another  ship,  he  was  ordered  to  the 
United  States,  under  Commodore  Decatur.  Chased 
into  the  harbor  of  New  London,  by  a  British  squad 
ron,  this  frigate,  with  the.  Wasp  and  Macedonian,  was 
kept  in  the  Thames  until  the  end  of  the  war.  Per 
ry's  five  months  service  on  board  of  her  was  one  of 
galling  inaction.  Left  inactive  in  the  affairs  of  war, 
the  young  lieutenant  improved  his  time  in  affairs  of 
the  heart;  and  on  Christmas  eve,  1814,  was  married 
to  Miss  Jane  Slidell,  then  but  seventeen  years  of 
age.  The  Reverend,  afterwards  Bishop,  Nathaniel 
Bowen,  united  the  pair  according  to  the  ritual  of  the 
Episcopal  church,  at  the  house  of  the  bride's  father, 
a  wealthy  New  York  merchant.  Perry's  brothers-in- 
law,  John  Slidell,  Alexander  Slidell  (MacKenzie), 
and  their  neighbor  and  playmate,  Charles  Wilkes,  as 
well  as  himself,  were  afterwards  heard  from. 


46  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Soon  after  his  marriage,  Lieutenant  Perry  was 
invited  by  Commodore  Decatur  to  join  him  on  the 
President.  In  this  ship,  nearly  rebuilt,  with  a  crew 
of  over  four  hundred  picked  sailors,  most  of  them 
tall  and  robust  native  Americans,  the  "  Bayard  of 
the  seas"  expected  to  make  a  voyage  to  the  East 
Indies.  Unfortunately,  seized  with  a  severe  fit  of 
sickness,  Perry  was  obliged  to  leave  the  ship,  and  in 
eager  anticipation  of  speedy  departure,  Decatur  ap 
pointed  another  lieutenant  in  his  place.  The  bitter 
pill  of  disappointment  proved,  for  Perry,  good  medi 
cine.  Owing  to  the  vigor  of  the  blockade,  the  Presi 
dent  did  not  get  away  until  January  15,  1815,  and 
then  only  to  be  captured  by  superior  force.  In  an 
swer  to  an  application  for  service,  Matthew  Perry 
was  ordered  to  Warren.  R.  I.,  to  recruit  for  the  brig 
CJiippewa. 

Meanwhile,  negotiations  for  ending  the  war  had 
begun,  starting  from  offers  of  mediation  by  Russia. 
With  the  allies  occupying  Paris,  and  Napoleon 
exiled  to  Elba,  there  was  little  chance  of  "peace 
with  honor"  for  the  United  States.  The  war  party 
in  England  were  even  inquiring  for  some  Elba  in 
which  to  banish  Madison.  "  The  British  govern 
ment  was  free  to  settle  accounts  with  the  upstart 
people  whose  ships  had  won  more  flags  from  her 
navy,  in  two  years,  than  all  her  European  rivals  had 
done  in  a  century."  One  of  the  first  moves  was  to 
dispatch  Packenham,  with  Wellington's  veterans,  to 
lay  siege  to  New  Orleans,  with  the  idea  of  gaining 


SERVICE    IX    THE    WAR    OF     1 8 12.  47 

nine  points  of  the  law.  From  Patterson  and  Jack 
son,  they  received  what  they  least  expected. 

Before  Perry's  work  at  Warren  fairly  began,  the 
British  ship  Favorite,  bearing  the  olive  branch,  ar 
rived  at  New  York,  February  u,  1815.  It  was  too 
late  to  save  the  bloody  battle  of  New  Orleans,  or  the 
capture  of  the  Cyane  and  Levant.  The  treaty  of 
Ghent  had  been  signed  December  3,  1813;  but 
neither  steam  nor  electricity  were  then  at  hand  to 
forefend  ninety  days  of  war. 

The  navy,  from  the  year  1815,  was  kept  up  on  a 
war  footing ;  and,  for  three  years,  the  sum  of  two 
millions  of  dollars  was  appropriated  to  this  arm  of 
the  service.  Commodore  Porter,  eager  to  improve 
and  expand  our  commerce,  conceived  the  project  of 
a  voyage  of  exploration  around  the  world.  The  plan 
embraced  an  extended  visit  to  the  islands  of  the 
Pacific,  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  Japan  and 
China.  The  expedition  was  to  consist  of  several 
vessels  of  war.  The  project  of  this  first  American 
expeditionary  voyage  fell  stillborn,  and  was  left  to 
slumber  until  Matthew  Perry  and  John  Rodgers  ac 
complished  more  than  its  purpose. 

The  seas  now  being  safe  to  American  commerce, 
our  merchants  at  once  took  advantage  of  their  oppor 
tunity.  Mr.  Slidell  offered  his  son-in-law,  then  but 
twenty  years  of  age,  the  command  of  a  merchant 
vessel  loaded  for  Holland.  He  applied  for  furlough. 
As  war  with  Algiers  threatened,  permission  was 
not  granted,  and  Matthew  and  James  Alexander 


48  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Perry  began  service  on  board  the  Chippewa.  This 
was  the  finest  of  three  brigs  in  the  flying  squadron, 
which  had  been  built  to  ravage  British  commerce  in 
the  Mediterranean.  Serving,  inactively,  on  the  brig 
Chippcwtiy  until  December  20,  1815,  Perry  procured 
furlough,  and  in  command  of  a  merchant  vessel, 
owned  by  his  father,  made  a  voyage  to  Holland.  He 
was  engaged  in  the  commercial  marine  until  i8i/> 
when  he  re-entered  the  navy. 

The  Virginian  Horatio,  son  of  the  freed  slave, 
who  to-day  ploughs  up  the  skull  of  some  Yorick,  Con 
federate  or  Federal,  turns  to  his  paternal  Hamlet,  of 
frosty  pow,  to  ask  :  "What  was  dey  fightin'  about  "  ? 
A  similar  question  asks  the  British  Peterkin  and  the 
American  lad,  of  this  generation,  concerning  a  phase 
of  our  history  early  in  this  century. 

Besides  being  "  our  second  war  for  national  inde 
pendence,"  the  struggle  of  1812  was  emphatically 
for  "  sailors'  rights."  At  the  beginning  of  hostili 
ties  there  were  on  record  in  the  State  Department, 
at  Washington,  6,527  cases  of  impressed  American 
seamen.  This  was,  doubtless,  but  a  small  part  of 
the  whole  number,  which  probably  reached  20,000 ; 
or  enough  to  man  our  navy  five  times  over.  In  181  ir 
2,548  impressed  American  seamen  were  in  British 
prisons,  refusing  to  serve  against  their  country,  as 
the  British  Admirality  reported  to  the  House  of 
Commons,  February  I,  1815.  In  January,  1811,  ac 
cording  to  Lord  Castlereagh's  speech  of  February  8, 
1813,  3,300  men,  claiming  to  be  Americans,  were 


SERVICE    IN    THE    WAR    OF    l8l2.  49 

serving  in  the  British  navy.*  The  war  settled  some 
questions,  but  left  the  main  one  of  the  right  of 
search,  claimed  by  Great  Britain,  still  open,  and  not 
to  be  removed  from  the  field  of  dispute,  until  Mr. 
Seward's  diplomacy  in  the  Trent  affair  compelled  its 
relinquishment  forever.  Three  years  struggle  with  a 
powerful  enemy,  had  done  wonders  in  developing  the 
resources  of  the  United  States  and  in  consolidating 
the  Federal  union.  The  American  nation,  by  this 
war,  wholly  severed  the  leading  strings  which  bound 
her  to  the  "mother  country"  and  to  Europe,  and 
shook  off  the  colonial  spirit  for  all  time. 

Among  the  significant  appropriations  made  by 
Congress  during  the  war,  was  one  for  $500  to  be 
spent  in  collecting,  transmitting,  preserving,  and  dis 
playing  the  flags  and  standards  captured  from  the 
enemy. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1818,  the  flag  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  which,  during  the  war  of  1812, 
bore  fifteen  stripes  and  fifteen  stars  in  its  cluster, 
returned  to  its  old  form.  The  number  of  stripes, 
representing  the  original  thirteen  states,  remained  as 
the  standard,  not  to  be  added  to  or  substracted  from. 
In  the  blue  field  the  stars  could  increase  with  the 
growth  of  the  nation.  In  the  American  flag  are 
happily  blended  the  symbols  of  the  old  and  the  new, 
of  history  and  prophecy,  of  conservatism  and  pro 
gress,  of  the  stability  of  the  unchanging  past  with 
the  promise  and  potency  of  the  future. 

*  Roosevelt's  "Naval  History  of  the  War  of  1812." 


CHAPTER    VI. 

FIRST    VOYAGE    TO    THE    DARK    CONTINENT. 

AN  act  of  Congress  passed  March  3,  1819,  favored 
the  schemes  of  the  American  Colonization  Society. 
A  man-of-war  was  ordered  to  convoy  the  first  com 
pany  of  black  colonists  to  Africa,  in  the  ship  Eliza 
beth,  to  display  the  American  flag  on  the  African 
coast,  and  to  assist  in  sweeping  the  seas  of  slavers. 
The  vessel  chosen  was  the  Cyane,  an  English-built 
vessel,  named  after  the  nymph  who  amused  Pros 
erpine  when  carried  off  by  Pluto.  One  of  the  pair 
captured  by  Captain  Stewart  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Consti 
tution,  in  his  memorable  moonlight  battle  of  Febru 
ary  20,  1815,  the  Cyane  mounted  thirty-four  guns, 
and  carried  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  men.  Re 
built  for  the  American  navy,  her  complement  was 
two  hundred  sailors  and  twenty-five  marines.  Cap 
tain  Edward  Trenchard,  who  commanded  her,  was  a 
veteran  of  the  Tripolitan  and  second  British  war. 
From  the  Mahometan  pirates,  when  a  mere  lad,  he 
had  assisted  to  capture  the  great  bronze  gun  that 
now  adorns  the  interior  gateway  of  the  Washington 
Navy  Yard. 

Athirst  for  enterprise  and  adventure,  Perry  applied 
for  sea  service  and  appointment  on  the  Cyane.  It 


FIRST    VOYAGE    TO    THE    DARK    CONTINENT.         51 

was  not  so  much  the  idea  of  seeing  the  "  Dark  Con 
tinent,"  as  of  seeing  "  Guinea  "  which  charmed  him. 
" Africa"  then  was  a  less  definite  conception  than  to 
us  of  this  age  of  Livingstone,  Stanley,  and  the  free 
Congo  State.  "  Guinea"  was  more  local,  while  yet 
fascinating.  From  it  had  come,  and  after  it  was 
named,  England's  largest  gold  coin,  which  had  given 
way  but  a  year  or  two  before  to  the  legal  "sov 
ereign,"  though  sentimentally  remaining  in  use. 
British  ships  were  once  very  active  in  the  Guinea 
traffic  in  human  flesh,  some  of  them  haying  been 
transferred  to  the  German  slave  trade  to  carry  the 
Hessian  mercenaries  to  America.  Curiosities  from 
the  land  of  the  speckled  champions  of  our  poultry 
yards,  were  in  Perry's  youth  as  popular  as  are  those 
from  Japan  in  our  day.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
dreaded  "  Guinea  worm,"  or  miniature  fiery  serpent, 
and  the  deadly  miasma,  made  the  coast  so  feared, 
that  the  phrase  "  Go  to  Guinea,"  became  a  popular 
malediction.  All  these  lent  their  fascination  to  a 
young  officer  who  loved  to  overcome  difficulties,  and 
"the  danger's  self,  to  lure  alone."  He  was  assigned 
to  the  Cyane  as  first  lieutenant.  As  executive  officer 
he  was  busy  during  the  whole  autumn  in  getting  her 
ready,  and  most  of  the  letters  from  aboard  the  Cyane, 
to  the  Department,  are  in  his  hand-writing,  though 
signed  by  the  commanding  officer. 

For  the  initial  experiment  in  colonization,  the 
ship  Elizabeth,  of  three  hundred  tons,  was  selected. 
Thirty  families,  numbering  eighty-nine  persons,  were 


52  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

to  go  as  passengers  and  colonists.  A  farewell  meet 
ing,  with  religious  exercises,  was  held  in  New  York, 
and  the  party  was  secretly  taken  on  board  January  3. 
This  was  done  to  avoid  the  tremendous  crowd  that 
would  have  gathered  to  see  people  willing  to  "  go  to 
Guinea." 

The  time  of  year  was  not  favorable  for  an  auspi 
cious  start,  for  no  sooner  were  the  colored  people 
aboard,  than  the  river  froze  and  the  vessel  was  ice 
bound.  As  fast  locked  as  if  in  Polar  seas,  the  Eliza 
beth  remained  till  February  6,  when  she  was  cut  out 
by  contract  and  floated  off.  In  the  heavy  weather, 
convoy  and  consort  lost  sight  of  each  other.  Cased 
in  ice,  the  Cyane  pulled  her  anchor-chains  three  days, 
then  spent  from  the  loth  to  the  I5th  in  searching 
for  the  Elizabeth,  which  meanwhile  had  spread  sail 
and  was  well  on  toward  the  promised  land.  All  this 
was  greatly  to  the  wrath  of  Captain  Trenchard. 

The  Cape  de  Verdes  came  into  view  March  9, 
after  a  squally  passage,  and  on  the  27th,  anchor  was 
cast  in  Sierra  Leone  roads.  The  Elizabeth  having 
arrived  two  days  before  had  gone  on  to  Sherbro. 

A  cordial  reception  was  given  the  American  war- 
vessel  by  the  British  naval  officers  and  the  governor. 
Memories  of  the  Revolution  were  recalled  by  the 
Americans.  It  may  be  suspected  that  they  cheer 
fully  hung  their  colors  at  half-mast  on  account  of  the 
death  of  George  III.  His  reign  of  sixty  years  was 
over. 

To  assist  the  colony,  a  part  of  the  crew  of  the 


FIRST    VOYAGE    TO    THE    DARK    CONTINENT.  53 

Cyane,  most  of  them  practical  mechanics,  with  tools 
and  four  months  provisions,  under  Lieutenant  John 
S.  Townsend,  was  despatched  to  Sherbro.  Imme 
diate  work  was  found  for  the  Cyane  in  helping  to 
repress  a  mutiny  on  an  American  merchant  vessel. 
This  done,  a  coasting  cruise  for  slavers  followed  in 
which  four  prizes  were  made.  The  floating  slave- 
pens  were  sent  home,  and  their  officers  held  for  trial. 
Other  sails  were  seen  and  chased,  and  life  on  the 
new  station  promised  to  be  tolerable.  Except  when 
getting  fresh  water  the  ship  was  almost  constantly  at 
sea,  and  all  were  well  and  in  good  spirits. 

Perry  enjoyed  richly  the  wonders  both  of  the  sea 
and  the  land  flowing  with  milk  of  the  cocoanut. 
Branches  of  coffee-berries  were  brought  on  ship,  the 
forerunner  of  that  great  crop  of  Liberian  coffee 
which  has  since  won  world-wide  fame.  The  deli 
cious  flavor  of  the  camwood  blossoms  permeated  the 
cabin. 

Among  the  natives  on  shore  each  tribe  seemed  to 
have  a  designating  mark  on  the  face  or  breast  — cut, 
burned  or  dyed  —  by  which  the  lineage  of  individuals 
was  easily  recognized.  The  visits  of  the  kings,  or 
chiefs,  to  the  ships,  were  either  for  trade  or  beggary. 
In  the  former  case,  the  dusky  trader  was  usually  ac 
companied  by  the  scroff  or  "  gold-taker,"  who  care 
fully  counted  and  appraised  the  "cut-money"  or 
coins.  When  cautioned  to  tell  the  truth,  or  confirm 
a  covenant,  their  oath  was  made  with  the  "salt- 
fingers"  raised  to  heaven,  some  of  this  table  min- 


54  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

eral  being  at  the  same  time  mixed  with  earth  and 
eaten,  salt  being  considered  sacred. 

The  dark  and  mysterious  history  of  Africa,  for 
centuries,  has  been  that  of  blood  and  war.  The 
battle-field  was  the  "bed  of  honor,"  and  frequently 
the  cannibals  went  forth  to  conflict  with  their  kettles 
in  hand  ready  to  cook  their  enemies  at  once  when 
slain.  Women  at  the  tribal  assemblies  counselled 
war  or  peace,  and  were  heard  with  respect  by  the 
warriors.  Almost  all  laws  were  enforced  by  the 
power  of  opinion,  this  taking  the  place  of  statutes. 

The  climate  and  the  unscientific  methods  of  hygi 
ene,  in  the  crowded  ship,  soon  began  to  tell  upon 
the  constitutions  of  the  men  on  the  Cyanc.  Torna 
dos,  heavy  rain,  with  intense  heat,  par-boiled  the  un- 
acclimated  white  seamen,  and  many  fell  ill.  The 
amphibious  Kroomen  relieved  the  sailors  of  much 
exposure ;  but  the  alternations  of  chill  and  heat, 
with  constant  moisture,  and  foul  air  under  the  bat' 
tened  hatches,  kept  fhe  sick  bay  full.  Worst  of  all, 
the  dreaded  scurvy  broke  out.  They  were  then 
obliged  to  go  north  for  fresh  meat  and  vegetables. 
A  pleasant  incident  on  the  way  was  their  meeting 
with  the  U.  S.  S.  Hornet,  twenty-seven  days  from 
New  York.  At  Teneriffe,  in  the  Canary  Islands, 
during  July,  the  Cyane,  though  in  quarantine,  re 
ceived  many  enjoyable  courtesies  from  the  officers  of 
a  French  seventy-four-gun-ship  in  the  harbor. 

When  quarantine  was  over,  and  the  Cyane  admit 
ted  to  Pratique,  Lieutenant  Perry  went  gratefully 


FIRST    VOYAGE    TO    THE    DARK    CONTINENT.          55 

ashore  to  tender  a  salute  to  the  Portuguese  governor. 
In  an  interview,  Perry  informed  his  worship  of  the 
object  of  the  American  ship's  visit,  and  stated  that  the 
Cyaiie  would  be  happy  to  tender  the  customary  salute 
if  returned  gun  for  gun.  The  governor  replied  that  it 
would  give  him  great  pleasure  to  return  the  salute  — 
but  with  one  gun  less  ;  as  it  was  not  customary  for 
Portugal  to  return  an  equal  number  of  guns  to  re 
publican  governments,  but  only  to  those  of  acknowl 
edged  sovereigns.  This  from  Portuguese  ! 

Perry  replied,  in  very  plain  terms,  that  no  salute 
would  be  given,  as  the  government  of  the  United 
States  acknowledged  no  nation  as  entitled  to  greater 
respect  than  itself. 

The  only  greeting  of  the  Cyane  as  she  showed  her 
stern  to  the  governor  and  the  port,  was  that  of  con 
temptuous  silence.  By  September  20,  the  John 
Adams  was  off  the  coast,  the  three  vessels  making 
up  the  American  squadron. 

The  first  news  received  from  the  colonists  was  of 
disaster.  On  their  arrival  at  Sherbro  they  landed 
with  religious  exercises,  and  met  some  of  Paul  Cuf- 
fee's  settlers  sent  out  some  years  before.  The  civil 
ized  negroes  from  the  Elizabeth  were  shocked  be- 
'yond  measure  at  the  heathenish  display  of  cuticle 
around  them.  They  had  hardly  expected  to  find 
their  aboriginal  brethren  in  so  low  an  estate.  They 
could  not  for  a  moment  think  of  fraternizing  with 
them.  Owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  season,  they 
were  unable  to  build  houses  to  shelter  themselves 


56  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

from  the  rains.  All  had  taken  the  African  fever, 
and  among  the  first  victims  was  their  leader,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Bacon.  From  the  Rev.  Daniel  Cokes,  the 
acting  agent  of  the  colonization  society,  the  whole 
miserable  story  was  learned.  The  freed  slaves  who, 
•even  while  well  fed  and  housed  on  ship,  had  shown 
occasional  symptoms  of  disobedience,  broke  out  into 
utter  insubordination  when  "the  sweets  of  freedom 
in  Africa  "  were  translated  into  prosy  work.  After 
Bacon's  death  there  was  total  disorder ;  no  authority 
was  acknowledged,  theft  became  alarmingly  common, 
and  the  agent's  life  was  threatened. 

The  native  blacks,  noticing  the  state  of  things, 
took  advantage  of  the  feuds  and  ignorance  of  the 
settlers  and  refused  to  help  them.  Sickness  carried 
off  the  doctor  and  all  of  the  Cyane  s  boat  crew.  Yet 
the  fever,  while  fatal  to  whites,  was  only  dangerous 
to  the  negro  colonists.  Twenty-three  out  of  the 
eighty-nine  had  died,  and  of  these  but  nineteen  by 
fever.  The  rest,  demoralized  and  discouraged,  gave 
way  to  their  worst  natures. 

The  colony  which  had  been  partly  projected  to  re 
ceive  slaves  captured  by  United  States  vessels,  for 
the  present,  at  least,  proving  a  failure,  Captain 
Trenchard  requested  the  governor  of  Sierra  Leone 
to  receive  such  slaves  as  should  hereafter  be  liber 
ated  by  Americans.  The  governor  acceded,  and  the 
Cyanc  turned  her  prow  homeward  October  4,  and 
after  a  fifty-seven  days'  experience  of  constant  squalls 
and  calms,  until  December  i,  arrived  at  New  York 


FIRST    VOYAGE    TO    THE    DARK    CONTINENT.         57 

on  Christmas  day.  Emerging  from  tropical  Africa, 
even  the  intermediate  ocean  voyage  did  not  prepare 
the  men  for  the  severe  weather  of  our  latitude,  and 
catarrhs  and  fevers  broke  out.  The  ship,  too,  was 
full  of  cases  of  chronic  sickness.  Between  disease 
and  the  elements,  the  condition  of  the  crew  was 
deplorable. 

In  this,  his  first  African  cruise,  Perry,  as  usual, 
profited  richly  by  experience.  He  had  made  a  sys 
tematic  study  of  the  climate,  coast,  and  ship-hygiene. 
He  believed,  and  expressed  his  conviction,  that  for 
much  of  the  preventible  sickness  some  one  was 
responsible.  Though,  thereby,  he  lost  the  good  will 
of  certain  persons,  Lieutenant  Perry  rendered  un 
questionable  benefits  to  later  ships  on  the  African 
station.  During  the  next  year,  the  U.  S.  S.  Nau 
tilus,  with  two  agents  of  the  government,  and  two  of 
the  colonization  societies,  sailed  with  a  fresh  lot  of 
colonists  for  Africa.  Thus  the  slow  work  of  build 
ing  up  the  first  and  only  American  colony  recognized 
by  the  United  States  went  on. 

There  were  some  far-seeing  spirits  on  both  sides  of 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  who  had  begun  to  see  that 
the  only  real  cure  for  the  African  slave  trade,  on  the 
west  coast  of  Africa,  was  its  abolition  in  America. 
The  right  way  for  the  present,  however,  was  to  carry 
the  war  into  Africa  by  planting  free  colonies. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PERRY    LOCATES    THE    SITE    OF    MONROVIA. 

ON  the  5th  of  July  1821,  Perry  was  doubly  happy, 
in  his  first  sole  command  of  a  man-of-war,  and  in  her 
being  bound  upon  a  worthy  mission.  The  Shark  was 
to  convey  Dr.  Eli  Ayres  to  Africa  as  agent  of  the 
United  States  in  Liberia.  He  was  especially  glad 
that  he  could  now  enforce  his  ideas  of  ship  hygiene. 
His  ambition  was  to  make  the  cruise  without  one 
case  of  fever  or  scurvy. 

The  Shark  sped  directly  through  the  Canaries. 
Here,  the  human  falcons  resorted  before  swooping 
on  their  human  prey.  At  Cape  de  Verde,  he  found 
the  villianous  slave  trade  carried  on  under  the  mask 
of  religion.  Thousands  of  negroes  decoyed  or  kid 
napped  from  Africa,  were  lodged  at  the  trading  sta 
tion  for  one  year,  and  then  baptized  by  the  wholesale 
in  the  established  Roman  faith.  They  were  then 
shipped  to  Brazil  as  Portuguese  "  subjects."  It  was 
first  aspersion,  and  then  dispersion. 

At  Sierra  Leone,  Dr.  Ayers  was  landed.  Three 
out  of  every  four  whites  in  the  colony  died  with 
promptness  and  regularity.  The  British  cruisers 
suffered  frightfully  in  the  loss  of  officers,  and  the 
Thistle,  spoken  October  2ist,  had  only  the  command 
er  and  surgeon  left  of  her  staff. 


PERRY  LOCATES  THE  SITE  OF  MONROVIA.     59 

Perry  performed  one  act  during  this  cruise  which 
powerfully  effected  for  good  the  future  of  the  Ameri 
can  negro  in  Africa,  and  the  destiny  of  the  future 
republic  of  Liberia.  The  first  site  chosen  for  the 
settlement  of  the  blacks  sent  out  by  the  American 
Colonization  Society  was  Sherbro  Island  situated  in 
the  wide  estuary  of  the  Sherbro  river  which  now 
divides  Sierra  Leone  from  Liberia.  In  this  low  lying 
malarious  district,  white  men  were  sure  to  die  speed 
ily,  and  the  blacks  must  go  through  the  fever  in 
order  to  live.  On  Perry's  arrival,  he  found  that  the 
missionary  teachers,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Winn,  and  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Andrews  were  already  in  the  cemetery 
from  fever.  Some  of  the  new  colonists  were  sick' 
and  six  of  them  had  died. 

Perry  saw  at  once  that  the  foundations  of  the  set 
tlement  must  be  made  on  higher  ground.  He  select 
ed,  therefore,  the  promontory  of  Mont  Serrado,  called 
Cape  Mesurado.  This  place,  easily  accessible,  had 
no  superior  on  the  coast.  It  lay  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mesurado  river  which  flowed  from  a  source  three 
hundred  miles  in  the  interior.* 

Having  no  authority  to  make  any  changes,  the 
matter  rested  until  December  12,  1832  when  Captain 
Stockton,  Doctor  Ayres,  and  seven  immigrants  visit 
ed  the  location  chosen  by  Matthew  Perry.  "  That  is 
the  spot  that  we  ought  to  have,"  said  Captain  Stock- 

*See  the  Maryland  Colonization  Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  328  and  the 
December  number  of  the  Liberia  Herald  1845,  for  Perry's  Jour 
nal  when  Lieutenant  of  the  Cyane. 


6O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

ton,  "  that  should  be  the  site  of  our  colony.  No  finer 
spot  on  the  coast."  Three  clays  later  a  contract  to 
cede  the  desired  land  to  the  United  States  was  signed 
by  six  native  "  Kings."  Seventeen  of  the  dusky 
sovereigns  and  thirty-four  dignitaries  enjoying  semi- 
royal  honors,  had  assented,  and  on  the  twenty-fifth  of 
April  1832  the  American  flag  was  hoisted  over  Cape 
Mesurado.  Shortly  afterwards,  Monrovia,  the  future 
capital,  named  after  President  Monroe,  began  its  ex 
istence.  To  this  form  of  the  Monroe  doctrine, 
European  nations  have  fully  acceded.  Liberia  is  the 
only  colony  founded  by  the  United  States. 

The  Shark  ran,  like  a  ferret  in  rat-holes,  into  all 
the  rivers,  nooks  and  harbors,  but  though  French, 
Dutch  and  Spanish  vessels  were  chased  and  over 
hauled,  no  American  ships  were  caught.  Perry 
wrote  "The  severe  laws  of  Congress  had  the  desired 
effect  of  preventing  American  citizens  from  employ 
ing  their  time  and  capital  in  this  iniquitous  traffic." 
Yet  this  species  of  commerce  was  very  actively  pur 
sued  by  vessels  wearing  the  French,  Portuguese, 
Spanish  and  Dutch  flags.  The  French  and  Portu 
guese  were  the  most  persistent  man-stealers.  So 
great  was  the  demand  for  slaves,  that  villages  only  a 
few  miles  apart  were  in  constant  war  so  as  to  get 
prisoners  to  be  disposed  of  to  the  captains  of  slave 
vessels.  Perry  wrote : 

"  In  this  predatory  warfare  the  most  flagitious  acts 
of  cruelty  are  committed.  The  ties  of  nature  are 
entirely  cut  asunder  for  it  is  not  infrequent  that  par 
ents  dispose  of  their  own  children." 


PERRY  LOCATES  THE  SITE  OF  MONROVIA.    6l 

The  cargoes  which  the  slavers  carried  to  use  in 
barter  for  human  flesh  consisted  of  New  England 
rum,  Virginia  tobacco,  with  European  gunpowder,, 
paint,  muskets,  caps,  hats,  umbrellas  and  hardware. 
Most  of  the  wearing  apparel  was  the  unsalable  or 
damaged  stock  of  European  shops.  The  Guinea 
coast  was  the  Elysium  of  old  clothes  men  and  makers 
of  slop  work.  Long  out  of  fashion  at  home,  these 
garments  sufficed  to  deck  gorgeously  the  naked  body 
of  a  black  slave-peddler,  while  the  rum  corroded  his 
interior  organs.  The  Caroline,  a  French  ship  over 
hauled  by  Perry,  had  made  ten  voyages  to  Africa. 
The  vessel,  cargo  and  outfit  cost  $8,000,  the  value  of 
the  cargo  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  slaves  at 
$250  each,  was  $38,250,  a  profit  of  nearly  $30,000 
for  a  single  voyage.  The  sixty  men,  ten  women,  and 
sixty-three  children  stowed  in  the  hold  were  each  fed 
daily  with  one  bottle  of  water  and  one  pound  of  rice. 
The  ships  found  off  Old  Calabar  and  Cape  Mount  — 
now  seats  of  active  Christian  and  civilizing  labors  — 
having  no  one  on  board  who  could  speak  English, 
were  completely  fitted  for  carrying  slaves.  Those 
sailing  below  the  equator,  and  under  their  national 
flags,  could  not  be  molested.  No  Congress  of  nations 
had  yet  outlawed  slave-trading  on  all  the  seas  as 
piracy.  The  commander  of  the  British  squadron  re 
ported  :  "No  Americans  are  engaged  in  the  [slave] 
trade.  They  would  have  no  inducement  to  conceal 
their  real  character  from  the  officers  of  a  British 
cruiser,  for  these  have  no  authority  to  molest  them.. 
All  slaves  are  now  under  foreign  flags." 


62  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

In  this  villainous  work,  the  Portuguese  from  first 
to  last  have  held  undisputed  pre-eminence.  Perry, 
after  his  three  African  cruises,  was  confirmed  in  his 
opinion  formed  at  first,  and  which  all  students  of 
Africa  so  unanimously  hold.  Mr.  Robert  Grant 
Watson,  who  has  minutely  studied  the  national  dis 
grace  in  many  parts  of  the  world  thus  formulates  this 
judgment. 

"  There  seems  indeed  something  peculiarly  in 
grained  in  the  Portuguese  race,  which  makes  them  take 
to  slave-dealing  and  slave-hunting,  as  naturally  as 
greyhounds  take  to  chasing  hares;  and  this  observation 
applies  not  to  one  section  of  the  race  alone,  but  to 
Portuguese  wherever  they  are  to  be  found  beyond 
the  reach  of  European  law.  No  modern  race  can  be 
as  slave-hunters  within  measurable  distance  of  the 
Portuguese.  Their  exploits  in  this  respect  are  writ 
ten  in  the  annals  not  only  of  the  whole  coast  of  Bra 
zil,  from  Para,  Uruguay,  and  along  the  Missiones  of 
Paraguay,  not  only  on  the  coast  of  Angola  but 
throughout  the  interior  of  Africa.  You  may  take  up 
the  journals  of  one  traveller  after  another,  of  Burton, 
Livingstone,  of  Stanley,  or  of  Cameron,  and  in  what 
ever  respects  their  accounts  and  opinions  may  differ, 
one  point  they  are  one  and  all  entirely  agreed  on, 
namely,  as  to  the  pestilent  and  remorseless  activity 
of  the  ubiquitous  Portuguese  slave-catcher." 

"  Having  examined  the  northern  part  of  the  coast 
from  the  Bessagoes  shoals  to  Cape  Mount,"  writes 
Perry.  "I  took  my  departure  for  West  Indies  fol- 


PERRY  LOCATES  THE  SITE  OF  MONROVIA.    63 

lowinsr    the    track    of    Homeward    Bound    Guinea- 

o 

men." 

A  run  across  the  Atlantic  brought  the  Shark  to 
the  West  Indies.  There  diligent  search  was  begun 
for  Picaroons  or  pirates.  American  merchant  vessels 
were  convoyed  beyond  the  coast  of  Cuba.  The  run 
northward  brought  the  Shark  to  New  York,  January 
17,  1822.  In  the  violent  change  from  the  equator  to 
our  rugged  climate,  many  of  the  Shark's  crew  suffered 
from  frost-bites^ 

A  short  but  very  active  cruise  in  African  waters 
had  been  finished.  Despite  the  long  calms,  occasion 
al  tempests  and  the  deadly  land  miasma,  not  a  single 
man  had  died  on  the  Shark.  This  unusual  exemp 
tion  from  the  disease  was  imputed  by  Perry  under 
Providence,  to  the  many  precautions  observed  by 
him  and  to  the  skilful  attentions  of  Dr.  Wiley. 

Matthew  Perry  was  among  the  first  to  discover  the 
underlying  cause  of  the  sailor's  malady  —  sea-scurvy. 
He  believed  it  to  be  primarily  due  to  mal-nutrition. 
He  found  the  soil  in  which  the  disease  grew  was  a 
compost  of  bad  water,  alcoholism,  exposure,  too  ex 
clusively  salt  diet,  lack  of  vegetables,  of  ventilation, 
and  of  cleanliness  on  ship.  The  canning  epoch  in 
augurated  later  by  Americans,  who,  it  is  said,  got 
their  notions  from  air-tight  fruit  jars  dug  up  from 
Pompeii,  had  not  yet  dawned,  but  Perry  already  put 
faith  in  succulents  and  the  entire  class  of  crucifiers, 
seeing  in  them  the  cross  of  health  in  his  crusade 
against  the  scorbutic  taint.  Though  not  yet  familiar 


64  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

with  the  marvelous  power  of  the  onion,  and  the  juice 
of  limes,  he  endeavored  at  all  times  to  secure  supplies 
of  sauer-kraut,  cabbages,  radishes,  and  fruits  rich  in 
acids  and  sub-acids.  He  was  emulous  of  the  success 
of  captains  Cook  and  Parry  who  had  succeeded  so 
well  in  their  voyages.  He  knew  that  in  war,  more 
men  perished  by  disease  than  in  battle.  He  lived  to 
see  the  day  when  a  ship  was  made  a  more  healthy 
dwelling  place  than  the  average  house,  and  when, 
through  perfected  dietic  knowledge^and  the  skill  of 
the  preserver  and  hermetic  sealer,  sea-scurvy  became 
so  rare  that  a  naval  surgeon  might  pass  a  lifetime 
without  meeting  a  case  save  in  a  hospital. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FIGHTING   PIRATES   IN  THE   SPANISH   MAIN. 

JAMES,  the  Spaniard's  patron  saint,  has  been  com 
pelled  to  lend  his  name  as  "  lago  "  to  innumerable 
towns,  cities  and  villages.  From  Mexico  to  Pata 
gonia  in  Spanish  America,  "  Santiago,"  "  San  Diego," 
"lago"  and  "Diego"  are  such  frequently  recurring 
vocables  that  the  Yankee  sailor  calls  natives  of  these 
countries  "Dago  men,"  or  "  Diegos."  It  is  his  slang 
name  for  foreigners  of  the  Latin  race.  It  is  a  relic  of 
the  old  days  when  he  knew  them  chiefly  as  pirates. 

Perry's  next  duty  was  to  lend  a  hand  against  the 
"Diego"  ship  robbers  of  the  Gulf,  who  had  become 
an  intolerable  nuisance.  The  unsettled  condition  of 
the  Central  and  South  American  colonies  had  set 
afloat  thousands  of  starving  and  ragged  patriots. 
Their  prime  object  was  the  destruction  of  Spanish 
commerce,  but  tempted  by  the  rich  prizes  of  other 
nations,  and  speedily  developing  communistic  ideas, 
they  became  truly  catholic  in  their  treatment  of 
other  peoples  property,  while  the  names  which  these 
cut-throats  gave  their  craft  were  borrowed  from  holy 
writ  and  the  calendar  of  the  saints.  Under  the  black 
flag,  they  degenerated  into  murderous  pirates.  Their 
own  name  was  "  Brethren  of  the  coast." 


66  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Emboldened  by  success,  they  formed  organized 
companies  of  buccaneers  and  extended  their  depre 
dations  over  the  whole  north  Atlantic.  Our  southern 
commerce  was  particularly  exposed.  The  accounts 
of  piracy  continually  reaching  our  cities  on  the  At 
lantic  coast,  were  accompanied  with  details  of  wanton 
cruelities  inflicted  on  American  seamen.  The  pirate 
craft  were  swift  sailing  schooners  of  from  fifty  to 
ninety  tons  burthen  manned  by  crews  of  from 
twenty-five  to  one  hundred  men  who  knew  every 
cove,  crevice,  nook  and  sinuous  passage  in  the  West 
India  Archipelago.  Watching  like  hawks  for  their 
prey,  they  would  swoop  down  on  the  helpless  quarry 
—  British  and  American  merchantmen — and  rob, 
beat,  burn  and  kill. 

The  squadron  fitted  out  to  exterminate  these 
heroes  of  our  yellow-covered  novels  consisted  of 
the  frigates,  Macedonian  and  Congress,  the  sloops 
Adams  and  Peacock,  with  five  brigs,  the  steam  galliot 
Sea-gull,  and  several  schooners ;  among  which,  was 
Lieutenant  Perry's  twelve-gun  vessel  the  Shark. 
The  whole  was  under  the  command  of  Commodore 
David  Porter,  the  father  of  the  present  illustrious 
Admiral  of  the  American  navy. 

The  duty  of  ferreting  out  these  pests  was  a  labor 
ious  one  in  a  trying  climate.  The  commodore  divid 
ed  the  whole  West  Indian  coast  into  sections,  each 
of  which  was  thoroughly  scoured  by  the  cruisers  and 
barges.  The  boat  service  was  continuous,  relieved 


FIGHTING    PIRATES    IX    THE    SPAXISH    MAIN.        6/ 

by  occasional  hand-to-hand  fights.  Often  the  tasks 
were  perplexing.  Though  belted  and  decorated 
with  the  universal  knife,  the.  quiet  farmers  in  the 
fields,  or  salt  makers  on  the  coast,  seemed  innocent 
enough.  As  soon  as  inquiries  were  answered,  and 
the  visiting  boat's  crew  out  of  sight,  they  hied  to  a 
secluded  cove.  On  the  deck  of  a  swift  sailing  light- 
draft  barque  or  even  open  boat,  these  same  men 
would  stand  transformed  into  blood-thirsty  pirates, 
under  black  flags  inscribed  with  the  symbols  of  skull 
and  bones,  axe  and  hour  glass. 

To  the  dangers  of  intricate  navigation  in  unsur- 
veyed  and  rarely  visited  channels,  for  even  the  Flor 
ida  Keys  were  then  unknown  land,  and  their  water 
ways  unexplored  labyrinths,  and  the  fatigue  of  constant 
service  at  the  oars,  was  added  keen  jealousy  of  the 
United  States,  felt  by  the  Cubans,  and  shown  by  the 
Spanish  authorities  in  many  annoying  ways. 

The  acquisition  of  Cuba  had  even  then  been  hinted 
at  by  Southern  fire-eaters  bent  on  keeping  the  area 
of  African  slavery  intact,  and  even  of  extending  it  in 
order  to  balance  the  increasing  area  of  freedom. 
This  feeling,  then  confined  to  a  section  of  a  sectional 
party,  and  not  yet  shaped,  as  it  afterwards  was,  into  a 
settled  policy  and  determination,  roused  the  defiant 
jealousy  of  the  Spaniards  in  authority,  even  though 
they  might  be  personally  anxious  to  see  piracy  exter 
minated.  The  Mexican  war,  waged  in  slavery's 
behalf  in  the  next  generation,  showed  how  well- 
grounded  this  jealousy  was. 


68  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

The  smaller  craft  sent  to  cope  with  the  pirates  of 
the  Spanish  Main  were  so  different  in  bulk  and 
appearance  from  the  heavy  frigates  and  ships  of  the 
line  that  they  were  dubbed,  "The  Mosquito  Fleet." 
The  swift  barges  were  named  in  accordance  with  this 
idea,  after  such  tropical  vermin  as  Mosquito,  Midge, 
Sand-fly,  Gnat  and  Gallinipper.  The  Sea-gull,  an 
altered  Brooklyn  ferry-boat  from  the  East  river,  and 
but  half  the  size  of  those  now  in  use,  was  equipped 
with  masts.  Under  steam  and  sail  she  did  good  ser 
vice. 

The  Shark  got  off  in  the  spring,  and  by  May  4, 
1822,  she  was  at  Vera  Cruz.  Perry  had  an  oppor 
tunity  to  see  the  castle  of  Juan  d'Ulloa  and  the  Rich 
City  of  the  Real  Cross,  which  were  afterwards  to 
become  so  familiar  to  him. 

The  pirates  were  soon  in  the  clutch  of  men  reso 
lutely  bent  on  their  destruction.  When,  in  June, 
Commodore  Biddle  obtained  permission  of  the  Cap 
tain  General  of  Cuba  to  land  boat's  crews  on  Spanish 
soil  to  pursue  the  pirates  to  the  death,  the  end  of  the 
system  was  not  far  off.  Still  the  ports  of  the  Spanish 
Main  were  crowded  with  American  ships  waiting  for 
convoy  by  our  men-of-war,  their  crews  fearing  the 
cut-throats  as  they  would  Pawnees. 

In  June,  Perry  with  the  Shark,  in  company  with 
the  Grampus,  captured  a  notorious  ship  sailing  under 
the  black  flag  —  the  Bandar  a  U  Sangare,  and  an 
another  of  lesser  fame.  Meeting  Commodore  Biddle 


FIGHTING    PIRATES    IN    THE    SPANISH    MAIN.        69 

in  the  flag-ship,  at  sea,  July  24,  he  put  his  prisoners, 
all  of  whom  had  Spanish  names,  on  board  the  Con 
gress.  They  were  sent  to  Norfolk  for  trial.  The  sad 
news  of  the  death  of  Lieutenant  William  Howard 
Allen  of  the  Alligator,  who  had  been  killed  by 
pirates,  was  also  learned.  The  friend  of  Fitz-Greene 
Halleck,  his  memory  has  been  embalmed  in  verse. 

By  order  of  the  commodore,  Perry  turned  his  prow 
again  toward  Africa.  His  visit,  however,  was  of 
short  duration,  for  on  the  I2th  of  December  1822, 
we  -find  him  in  Norfolk,  Virginia,  finishing  a  cruise  in 
which  he  had  been  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  days 
under  sail,  during  which  time  he  had  boarded  one 
hundred  and  sixty-six  vessels,  convoyed  thirty,  given 
relief  to  five  in  actual  distress,  and  captured  five 
pirates. 

Although  the  pirates  no  longer  called  for  a  whole 
squadron  to  police  the  Spanish  Main,  yet  our  com 
merce  in  the  Gulf  was  now  in  danger  from  a  new 
source.  In  1822,  Mexico  entered  upon  another  of 
her  long  series  of  revolutions.  The  native  Mexican, 
Iturbide,  abandoning  the  role  of  pliant  military  cap 
tain  of  the  Spanish  despot,  assumed  that  of  an  Ameri 
can  usurper. 

Suddenly  exalted,  May  18,  1822,  from  the  barrack- 
room  to  the  throne,  he  set  the  native  battalions  in 
motion  against  the  Spanish  garrisons  then  holding 
only  the  castle  of  San  Juan  d'Ulloa  and  a  few  minor 
fortresses.  Santa  Anna  was  then  governor  of  Vera 


70  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Cruz.  Hostilities  between  the  royalists  and  the  citi 
zens  having  already  begun,  our  commerce  was  in 
danger  of  embarrassment. 

Perry  with  his  old  ship  and  crew  left  New  York 
for  Mexico.  Before  he  arrived,  the  Spanish  yoke 
had  been  totally  overthrown  and  the  National  Repre 
sentative  Assembly  proclaimed.  Iturbide  abdicated 
in  March,  1823,  and  danger  to  our  commerce  was 
removed.  Perry,  relieved  of  further  duty  returned  to 
New  York,  July  9,  1823,  and  enjoyed  a  whole  summer 
quietly  with  his  family. 

Perceiving  the  advantage  of  a  knowledge  of  Span 
ish,  Perry  began  to  study  the  tongue  of  Cervantes. 
Though  not  a  born  linguist,  he  mastered  the  lan 
guage  so  as  to  be  during  all  his  later  life  conversant 
with  the  standard  literature,  and  fluent  in  the  reading 
of  its  modern  forms  in  speech,  script  and  print. 
This  knowledge  was  afterward,  in  the  Mediterranean, 
in  Africa,  and  in  Mexico,  of  great  value  to  him. 

Commodore  Porter's  work  in  suppressing  the  West 
Indian  free-booters  was  so  well  done,  that  piracy,  on 
the  Atlantic  coast,  has  ever  since  been  but  a  memory. 
Unknown  to  current  history,  it  has  become  the  theme 
only  of  the  cheap  novelist  and  now  has,  even  in 
fiction,  the  flavor  of  antiquity. 

The  Shark,  the  first  war-ship  under  Perry's  sole 
command,  mounted  twelve  guns,  measured  one  hun 
dred  and  seventy-seven  tons,  cost  $23,267,  and  had 
a  complement  of  one  hundred  men.  Her  term  of 


FIGHTING    PIRATES    IN    THE    SPANISH    MAIN.         /I 

life  was  twenty-five  years.  She  began  her  honorable 
record  under  Lieutenant  Perry,  was  the  first  United 
States  vessel  of  war  to  pass  through  the  Straits  of 
Magellan,  from  east  to  west,  and  was  lost  in  the 
Columbia  river  in  1846. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    AMERICAN    LIXE-OF-BATTLE    SHIP. 

THE  line-of-battle  ship,  which  figured  so  largely  in 
the  navies  of  a  half  century  or  more  ago,  was  a  man- 
of-war  carrying  seventy-four  or  more  guns.  It  was 
the  class  of  ships  in  which  the  British  took  especial 
pride,  and  the  American  colonists,  imitating  the 
mother  country,  began  the  construction  of  one,  as 
early  as  the  Revolution.  Built  at  Portsmouth,  this 
first  American  "ship-of-the-line  "  was,  when  finished, 
presented  to  France.  Humpreys,  our  great  naval 
contractor  in  1797  carried  out  the  true  national  idea, 
by  condensing  the  line-of-battle  ship  into  a  frigate, 
and  "line  ships"  proper  were  not  built  until  after 
1820.  One  of  the  first  of  these  was  the  NortJi  Caro 
lina,  commanded  by  the  veteran  John  Rodgers. 

The  first  visit  of  an  American  line-of-battle  ship  to 
Europe,  in  1825,  under  Commodore  Rodgers,  was,  in 
its  effect,  like  that  of  the  iron-clad  Monitor  Miauto- 
nomak  under  Farragut  in  1865.  It  showed  that  the 
United  States  led  the  world  in  ships  and  guns.  The 
North  Carolina  was  then  the  largest,  the  most  efficient 
and  most  formidable  vessel  that  ever  crossed  the  At 
lantic. 


THE    AMERICAN    LINE-OF-BATTLE    SHIP.  73 

Rodgers  was  justly  proud  of  his  flag-ship  and 
fleet,  for  this  was  the  golden  era  of  American  ship 
building,  and  no  finer  craft  ever  floated  than  those 
launched  from  our  shipyards. 

The  old  hulk  of  the  North  Carolina  now  laid  up  at 
the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  and  used  as  a  magazine, 
receiving-ship,  barracks,  prison,  and  guard-house, 
gives  little  idea  of  the  vision  of  life  and  beauty 
which  the  "seventy-four"  of  our  fathers  was. 

The  great  ship,  which  then  stirred  the  hearts  ot 
the  nation  moved  under  a  mighty  cloud  of  canvas, 
and  mounted  in  three  tiers  one-hundred  and  two  guns, 
which  threw  a  mass  of  iron  outweighing  that  fired  by 
any  vessel  then  afloat.  Her  battery  exceeded  by  three 
hundred  and  four  pounds  that  of  the  Lord  Nelson  — 
the  heaviest  British  ship  afloat  and  in  commission. 
The  weight  of  broadside  shot  thrown  by  the  one 
larger  craft  before  her — that  of  the  Spanish  Admiral 
St.  Astraella  Trinidad,*  which  Nelson  sunk  at  Tra 
falgar,  —  fell  short  of  that  of  the  North  Carolina. 
Our  "wooden  walls"  were  then  high,  and  the  stately 
vessel  under  her  mass  of  snowy  canvas  was  a  sight 
that  filled  a  true  sailor  with  profound  emotion.  Mac 
kenzie  in  his  "Year  in  Spain"  has  fitly  described  his 
feelings  as  that  sight  burst  upon  him. 

So  perfect  were  the  proportions,  that  her  size  was 
under-valued  until  men  noticed  carefully  the  great 
mass  moving  with  the  facility  of  a  schooner.  At  the 

*  See  description  in  the  novel  Trafalgar.  New  York,  1885. 


74  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY 

magic  of  the  boatswain's  whistle,  the  anchor  was  cast 
and  the  great  sails  were  folded  up  and  hidden  from 
view  as  a  bird  folding  her  wings. 

It  was  highly  beneficial  to  our  commerce  and 
American  reputation  abroad  to  send  so  magnificent  a 
fleet  into  European  \vaters  as  that  commanded  by 
Rodgers.  In  many  ports  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
the  American  flag,  then  bearing  twenty-four  stars, 
had  never  been  seen.  The  right  man  and  the  right 
ships  were  now  to  represent  us. 

Perry  joined  the  North  Carolina  July  26,  1824. 
She  sailed  in  April,  and  arrived  at  Malaga,  May  19, 
1825.  During  three  days  she  was  inspected  by  the 
authorities  and  crowds  of  people,  who  were  deeply 
impressed  by  the  perfect  discipline  observed  on  the 
finest  ship  ever  seen  in  those  waters. 

Gibraltar  on  June  /th,  and  Tangier,  June  I4th, 
were  then  visited,  and  by  the  i;th,  the  whole  squad 
ron,  among  which  was  the  Cyancy  assembled  in  the 
offing  before  the  historic  fortress  near  the  pillars  of 
Hercules,  prior  to  a  visit  to  the  Greek  Archipelago. 

This  too,  was  an  epoch  of  vast  ceremony  and  display 
on  board  ship.  War  and  discipline  of  to-day,  if  less 
romantic  and  chivalrous  are  more  business-like,  more 
effective,  but  less  spectacular.  Mackenzie  with  a  pen 
equal  to  that  of  his  friend,  N.  P.  Willis,  has  left  us  a 
graphic  sketch  of  the  receptions  and  departures  of 
the  Commodore.  As  we  read  his  fascinating  pages  : 

"  The  herculean  form  and  martial  figure  of  the 
veteran,"  who  as  monarch  reigned  over  "the  hallowed 


THE    AMERICAN    LIXE-OF-BATTLE    SHIP.  75 

region  of  the  quarterdeck,"  the  "band  of  music  in 
Moorish  garb,"  the  "  groups  of  noble  looking  young 
officers  "  come  again  before  us. 

A  "thousand  eyes  are  fixed"  on  "the  master 
spirit,"  hats  are  raised,  soldiers  present  arms,  the 
"side  boys "  detailed  at  gangways  to  attend  digni 
taries,  —  eight  to  an  admiral,  four  to  a  captain,  — are 
in  their  places,  and  the  blare  of  brazen  tubes  is  heard 
as  the  commodore  disembarks. 

Perry,  as  executive  officer,  held  the  position  which 
a  writer  with  experience  has  declared  to  be  the  most 
onerous,  difficult,  and  thankless  of  all.  His  duties 
comprised  pretty  much  everything  that  needed  to  be 
done  on  deck.  Whether  in  gold  lace  or  epaulettes 
by  day,  or  in  oil-skin  jacket  with  trumpet  at  night  or 
in  storm,  Perry  was  regent  of  the  ship  and  crew. 
Charles  W.  Morgan,  afterwards  commodore,  was 
captain. 

The  business  of  the  squadron,  consisting  of  the 
NortJi  Carolina,  Constitution,  Erie,  Ontario,  and  Cyane 
was  to  protect  American  commerce.  The  ships  were 
to  sail  from  end  to  end  of  the  Mediterranean,  touch 
ing  at  Algiers,  Tunis  and  Tripoli,  which  "  Barbary  " 
powers  were  now  very  friendly  to  Americans.  Other 
classic  sites  were  to  be  visited,  and  although  the 
young  officers  anticipated  the  voyage  with  delight, 
yet  the  cruise  was  not  to  be  a  mere  summer  picnic. 
American  commerce  was  in  danger  at  the  Moslem 
end  of  the  Mediterranean,  for  much  the  same  politi 
cal  causes  previously  operating  in  the  West  Indies. 


76  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

The  cause  lay  in  the  revolt  of  a  tribute  nation  against: 
its  suzerain,  or  rather  in  the  assertion  of  her  liberty 
against  despotism.  That  struggle  for  Hellenic  Inde 
pendence,  which  becomes  to  us  far-away  American.1; 
more  of  an  entity,  through  the  poetry  of  Byron  and 
Fitz-Green  Halleck,  than  through  history,  had  began. 
It  seems,  in  history,  a  dream ;  in  poetry,  a  fact. 
While  the  Greek  patriots  won  a  measure  of  success, 
they  kept  their  hands  off  from  other  people's  proper 
ty  and  regarded  the  relation  of  mine  and  thine ;  but 
when  hard  pressed  by  the  Turks,  patriotism  degen 
erated  into  communism.  They  were  apt  to  forage 
among  our  richly-laden  vessels.  Greek  defeat  meant 
piracy,  and  at  this  time  the  cause  of  the  patriots, 
though  a  noble  one,  was  desperate  indeed.  Fivo 
years  of  fighting  had  passed,  yet  recognition  by 
European  nations  was  withheld.  The  first  fruits  of 
the  necessity,  which  knows  no  law,  was  plunder. 

On  the  29th  of  May,  an  American  merchantman 
from  Boston  was  robbed  by  a  Greek  privateer,  and 
this  act  became  a  precedent  for  similar  outrages. 

While  at  Patras,  the  chief  commercial  town  of 
Greece,  Perry  had  the  scripture  prophecy  of  "  seven 
women  taking  hold  of  one  man"  fulfilled  before  his 
eyes.  The  Biblical  number  of  Turkish  widows,  whose 
husbands  had  been  killed  at  Corinth,  were  brought 
on  board  the  North  Carolina  and  exposed  for  sale  by 
Greeks,  who  were  anxious  to  make  a  bargain.  The 
officers  paid  their  ransom,  and  giving  them  liberty 
sent  them  to  Smyrna  under  charge  of  Perry. 


THE    AMERICAN    LINE-OF-BATTLE    SHIP.  // 

While  there,  an  event  occurred  which  had  a  disas 
trous  physical  influence  upon  Matthew  Perry  all  his 
life,  and  which  remotely  caused  his  death.  A  great 
fire  broke  out  on  shore  which  threatened  to  wrap  the 
whole  city  in  conflagration.  The  efficient  executive 
of  the  flag:ship,  ordered  a  large  detail  to  land  in  the 
boats  and  act  as  firemen.  The  men,  eager  for  excite 
ment  on  land,  worked  with  alacrity ;  but  among  the 
most  zealous  and  hard  working  of  all  was  their  lieu 
tenant.  In  danger  and  exposure,  alternately  heated 
and  drenched,  Perry  was  almost  exhausted  when  he 
regained  the  ship.  The  result  was  an  attack  of 
rheumatism,  from  the  recurring  assaults  of  which  he 
was  never  afterwards  entirely  free.  Hitherto  this 
species  of  internal  torture  had  been  to  him  an  ab 
straction  ;  henceforth,  it  was  personal  and  concrete. 
Shut  up  like  a  fire  in  his  bones,  its  occasional  erup 
tions  were  the  cause  of  that  seeming  irritableness 
which  was  foreign  to  his  nature. 

Among  other  visitors  at  Smyrna,  were  some  Turk 
ish  ladies,  who,  veiled  and  guarded  by  eunuchs,  came 
on  board  "ships  of  the  new  world."  No  such  priv 
ilege  had  ever  been  accorded  them  before,  and  these 
exiles  of  the  harem,  looked  with  eager  curiosity  at 
every-thing  and  everybody  on  the  ship,  though  they 
spoke  not  a  word.  Nothing  of  themselves  was  visible 
except  their  eyes,  and  these — to  the  old  commodore  — 
"not  very  distinctly,"  though  possibly  to  the  young 
officers  they  shone  as  brightly  as  meteors.  This 
visit  of  our  squadron  had  a  stimulating  effect  on 


78  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

American  commerce,  though  our  men-of-war  con 
voyed  vessels  of  various  Christian  nations. 

The  Greek  pirates  extending  the  field  of  their  opera 
tions,  had  now  begun  their  depredations  in  open 
boats.  Dissensions  among  the  patriots  were  already 
doing  as  much  harm  to  the  sinking  cause  as  Turkish 
arms. 

Captain  Nicholson  of  our  navy,  visiting  Athens 
and  Corinth,  found  the  Acropolis  in  the  hands  of  a 
faction,  and  the  country  poor  and  uncultivated. 
Corinth  was  but  a  mere  name.  Its  streets  were 
overgrown,  its  houses  were  roofless  and  empty,  and 
the  skeletons  of  its  brave  defenders  lay  white  and 
unburied.  The  Greek  fleet  of  one-hundred  sail  was 
unable  to  do  much  against  the  Turkish  vessels,  num 
bering  fifteen  more  and  usually  heavier.  The  best 
successes  of  the  patriots  were  by  the  use  of  fire- 
ships. 

In  spite  of  the  low  state  of  the  Hellenic  cause, 
Americans  manifested  strict  neutrality,  and  the  Greek 
authorities  in  the  ports  entered  were  duly  saluted, 
an  example  which  the  French  admiral  and  Austrian 
commodore  followed. 

The  fleet  cruised  westwardly,  arriving  at  Gibraltar, 
October  12,  where  Perry  found  awaiting  him  his  ap 
pointment  to  the  grade  of  acting  Master  Com 
mandant. 

The  opening  of  the  year  1827,  found  the  cause  of 
the  Greeks  sunk  to  the  lowest  ebb  of  hopelessness. 
Even  the  crews  of  the  men-of-war,  unable  to  get  wage 


THE    AMERICAN    LINE-OF-BATTLE    SHIP.  /Q 

or  food,  put  to  sea  for  plunder.  Friend  and  foe, 
American,  as  well  as  Turk,  suffered  alike. 

While  war  and  misery  reigned  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  Mediterranean,  commerce  with  the  north 
African  nations  was  rapidly  obliterating  the  memories 
of  piracy  and  reprisal,  which  had  once  made  Berber 
scimeter  and  Yankee  cutlass  cross.  Peace  and 
friendship  were  assiduously  cultivated,  and  our  offi 
cers  were  received  with  marked  kindness  and  atten 
tion. 

Our  three  little  wars  with  the  Moslems  of  the 
Mediterranean,  from  1794  to  1797,  from  1801  to  1804, 
and  in  1815,  seem  at  this  day  incredible  and  dream 
like.  In  view  of  the  Bey  of  Tunis,  on  the  assassina 
tion  of  Abraham  Lincoln  sending  a  special  envoy  to 
express  sympathy,  and  presenting  his  portrait  to  the 
State  Department,  and  at  the  Centennial  Exposition 
joining  with  us  ;  and  of  Algeria  being  now  the  play 
ground  of  travelers,  one  must  acknowledge  that  a 
mighty  change  has  passed  over  the  spirit  of  the  Ber 
bers  since  this  century  opened. 

Sickness  broke  out  on  the  big  ship  North  Carolina, 
and  at  one  time  four  lieutenants  and  one-hundred  and 
twenty-five  men  were  down  with  small -pox  and 
catarrh.  The  wretchedness  of  the  weather  at  first 
allowed  little  abatement  of  the  trouble,  but  under 
acting  Master  Commandant  Perry's  vigorous  and 
persistent  hygienic  measures,  including  abundant 
fumigation,  the  scourge  was  checked.  His  methods 
were  very  obnoxious  to  some  of  the  officers  and  crew. 


8O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

but  were  indispensable  to  secure  a  clean  bill  of  health. 
The  commodore  wrote  from  Malta,  February  I4th, 
1827,  that  the  condition  of  the  ship's  people  had 
greatly  improved. 

The  balmy  spring  breezes  brought  recuperation. 
The  ship,  clean  and  in  splendid  condition,  was  ready 
to  sail  homewards.  The  boatswain's  call,  so  welcome 
and  always  heard  with  a  thrill  of  delight  —  "All 
hands  up  anchor  for  home," — was  sounded  on  the 
3ist  of  May.  The  North  Carolina,  leaving  behind 
her  classic  waters,  moved  towards  "  the  free  hearts.' 
hope  and  home." 

The  old  weather-beaten  hulk  that  now  lies  in  the 
Wallabout  is  the  same  old  North  Carolina.  What  a 
change  from  glory  to  dry  rot !  It  came  to  pass  that 
the  American  line-of-battle  ships,  while  the  most 
showy,  were  also  the  most  unsatisfactory  class  of 
ships  in  our  navy.  They  all  ended  their  days  as  store 
ships  or  as  firewood.  "The  naval  mind  of  the 
United  States  could  not  work  well  in  old  world 
harness." 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  CONCORD  IN  THE  SEAS  OF  RUSSIA  AND  EGYPT. 

THE  stormy  administration  of  Andrew  Jackson, 
which  began  in  1829,  and  the  vigorous  foreign  policy 
which  he  inaugurated,  or  which  devolved  upon  him 
to  follow  up,  promised  activity  if  not  glory  for  the 
navy.  The  boundary  question  with  England,  and 
the  long-standing  claims  for  French  spoliations  prior 
to  1801,  also  pressed  for  solution. 

The  pacific  name  of  at  least  one  of  the  vessels  se 
lected  to  bear  our  flag,  and  our  envoy,  John  Randolph 
of  Roanoke,  into  Russian  waters,  suggested  the 
olive  branch,  rather  than  the  arrows,  held  in  the 
talons  of  the  American  eagle.  The  Concord,  which 
was  to  be  put  under  Perry's  command,  was  named 
after  the  capital  of  the  state  in  which  she  was  built. 
She  was  of  seven  hundred  tons  burthen  and  cpnried 
eighteen  guns.  She  was  splendidly  equipped,  cost 
ing  $115,325;  and  was  destined,  before  shipwreck 
on  the  east  coast  of  Africa  in  1843,  to  the  average 
life  of  fifteen  years,  and  thirteen  of  active  service. 

Perry  was  offered  sea-duty  April  i.  Accepting  at 
once,  he  received  orders,  April  21,  to  command  the 
Concord.  By  May  15,  he  had  settled  his  accounts  at 
the  recruiting  station,  and  was  on  the  Concord's  deck. 
He  wrote  asking  the  Department  for  officers.  He 


82  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY, 

was  especially  anxious  to  secure  a  good  school-master 
and  chaplain.  In  those  days,  before  naval  academies 
on  land  existed,  the  school  was  afloat  in  the  ship 
itself,  and  daily  study  was  the  rule  on  board.  Mathe 
matics,  French  and  Spanish  were  taught,  and  Perry 
took  a  personal  interest  in  the  pupils.  In  this  re 
spect  he  was  the  superior  even  of  his  brother  Oliver, 
whose  honorable  fame  as  a  naval  educator  equals 
that  as  a  victor. 

Leaving  Norfolk,  late  in  June,  a  run  of  forty-thre^ 
days,  including  stops  for  visits  to  London  and 
Elsineur,  brought  the  Concord  under  the  guns  cf 
Cronstadt,  August  9.  Mr.  Randolph  spent  te  i 
days  in  Russia,  and  then  made  his  quarters  i  i 
London. 

The  honors  of  this  first  visit  on  an  American  ship- 
of-war,  in  Russian  waters,  were  not  monopolized  by 
the  minister.  While  at  Cronstadt,  the  Czar  Nicho 
las  came  on  board  and  inspected  the  Concord,  with 
unconcealed  pleasure.  In  return,  Perry  and  a  few  of 
his  officers  received  imperial  audience  at  the  palace 
in  St.  Petersburg,  and  were  shown  the  sights  of  the 
city  —  the  "window  looking  out  into  Europe" 
which  Peter  the  Great  built.  Being  invited  to  come 
again,  with  only  his  interpreter  and  private  secretary, 
Chaplain  Jenks. 'Perry  acceded,  and  this  time  the 
interview  was  prolonged  and  informal.  The  Auto 
crat  of  all  the  Russias,  and  this  representative  officer 
of  the  young  republic,  talked  as  friend  to  friend.  At 
this  time,  Alexander,  who  in  1880  was  blown  to 


IN    THE    SEAS    OF    RUSSIA    AND    EGYPT.  83 

pieces  by  the  glass  dynamite  bombs  of  the  Nihilists, 
was  a  boy  twelve  years  old.  Nicholas  complimented 
Perry  very  highly  on  his  naval  knowledge  ;  remarked 
that  the  United  States  was  highly  favored  in  having 
such  an  officer,  and  definitely  intimated  that  he 
would  like  to  have  Perry  in  the  Russian  service.  The 
chaplain-interpreter  gives  a  pen  sketch  of  the  scene. 
Both  Captain  Perry  and  the  Czar  were  tall  and  large ; 
both  were  stern  ;  Captain  Perry  was  abrupt,  so  was 
the  Czar.  They  all  stood  in  the  great  hall  of  the 
palace  (the  same  which  was  afterwards  dynamited  by 
the  Nihilists).  The  Czar  asked  a  great  many  ques 
tions  about  the  American  navy,  and  Captain  Perry 
answered  them.  Professor  Jenks  translated  for  both, 
using  his  own  phrases  ;  and,  to  quote  his  own  de 
scription,  "  sweetening  up  the  conversation  greatly." 

These  interviews  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
the  young  chaplain.  As  he  said  :  "  The  Czar  had 
very  remarkable  eyes,  and  he  had  such  a  very  covet 
ous  look  when  he  fixed  them  on  Captain  Perry  and 
myself,  that  I  was  very  anxious  to  get  out  of  his 
kingdom."  The  young  linguist  felt  in  the  presence  of 
the  destroyer  of  Poland,  very  much  as  the  "  tender 
foot  "  traveller  feels  when  invited  to  dine  with  the 
border  gentleman  who  has  "killed  his  man."  The 
professor  politely  declined  the  Czar's  invitation  to 
become  his  superintendent  of  education,  as  did  Perry 
the  proposition  to  enter  the  Russian  naval  service. 

Nicholas  I.,  one  of  the  best  of  despots,  was  the 
grandson  of  Catharine  II.  By  this  famous  Russian 


84  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

queen,  had  been  laid  the  foundation  of  that  abiding 
friendship  between  Russia  and  the  United  States. 
To  this  foundation,  Nicholas  added  a  new  tier  of  tin 
superstructure.  King  George  III.  of  Great  Britair 
had,  in  1775,  attempted  to  hire  mercenaries  in  Rus 
sia  to  fight  against  his  American  subjects.  Queer 
Catharine  refused  the  proposition  with  scorn,  reply 
ing  that  she  had  no  soldiers  to  sell.  While  this  act 
compelled  the  gratitude  of  Americans  to  Russia,  it 
forced  King  George  to  seek  among  the  shambles  o: 
petty  princes  in  Germany,  Another  friendly  ac : 
which  touched  the  heart  of  our  young  republic  was 
the  liberal  treaty  of  1824,  the  first  made  with  the 
United  States.  This  instrument  declared  the  navi 
gation  and  fisheries  of  the  Pacific  free  to  the  people 
of  both  nations.  Indirectly,  this  was  the  cause  of 
so  many  American  sailors  being  wrecked  in  Japan, 
and  of  our  national  interest  in  the  empire  which 
Perry  opened  to  the  world. 

The  warm  sympathy  existing  between  Europe's 
first  despotism  and  the  democratic  republic  in  Amer 
ica,  is  a  subject  profoundly  mysterious  to  the  average 
Englishman.  He  wonders  where  Americans,  who 
are  antipodal  to  Russians  in  political  thought,  find 
points  of  agreement.  In  Catharine's  refusal  to  help 
Great  Britain  in  oppressing  her  colonies,  in  liberal 
diplomacy,  in  the  emancipation  of  her  bondmen,  and 
the  abolition  of  slavery  and  serfdom,  in  the  sympathy 
which  covered  national  wounds,  and  in  mutual  sor 
row  from  assassination  and  condolence  in  grief,  the 


IX    THE    SEAS    OF    RUSSIA    AND    EGYPT.  85 

relation  is  clearly  discerned.     The  cord  of  friendship 
has  many  strands. 

These  interviews,  and  the  honors  shown  the  cap 
tain  of  the  Concord,  by  the  personal  presence  of  the 
Czar  on  his  ship,  did  not  serve  in  allaying  the  invalid 
envoy's  jealous  temper.  The  mainmast  of  the  ves 
sel  needed  repairs,  and  she  lay  at  anchor  six  days  — 
long  enough  for  Randolph  to  indite  despatches  home 
ward,  one  of  which  was  a  spiteful  letter  to  the  Presi. 
dent,  blaming  Captain  Perry.  These  were  brought 
by  Lieutenant  Williamson  on  Sunday  night,  and  at  4 
A.  M.  sail  was  made  for  Copenhagen.  After  much 
heavy  weather,  and  a  boisterous  passage,  Copen 
hagen  was  reached  September  6. 

We  may  dismiss  in  a  paragraph  this  whole  matter 
of  Randolph's  connection  with  the  Concord.  After 
his  return  home  he  lapsed  into  his  speech-making 
habits.  He  indulged  in  slanders  and  falsehoods,  as 
serting  that  the  condition  of  the  sailors  was  worse 
than  that  of  his  own  slaves,  and  the  discipline,  espe 
cially  flogging,  severer  than  on  the  plantation.  Perry 
and  his  officers  heard  of  this,  and  on  February  16, 
1832,  sent  an  exact  report  of  the  correction  admin 
istered,  proving  that .  Randolph's  assertions  were 
unfounded.  Supported  by  his  own  officers,  who 
voluntarily  made  flat  contradiction  of  Mr.  Ran 
dolph's  assertions,  Perry  convicted  the  erring  Vir 
ginian  of  downright  falsehood.  Perry  was  careful 
to  set  this  matter  in  its  proper  light,  and  two  sets  of 
his  papers  are  now  in  the  naval  archives.  No  cen- 


00  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

sure  was  passed  upon  him.  His  conduct  was  ap 
proved,  for  Randolph  in  addition  to  his  disagreeable 
behavior,  had  exceeded  his  authority.  It  would  be 
idle  to  deny,  what  it  is  an  honor  to  Perry  to  declare, 
that  the  discipline  on  the  Concord 'was  very  strict. 

Flogging  for  certain  offences  was  the  rule  of  the 
service,  not  made  by  Perry  but  a  custom  fixed  long 
before  he  was  born.  As  a  loyal  officer,  Captain 
Perry  had  no  choice  in  the  matter.  Whenever  pos 
sible,  by  persuasion,  by  the  the  substitution  of  a  rep 
rimand  for  the  cat,  he  avoided  the,  then,  universal 
method  of  correction.  At  all  the  floggings,  every 
one  who  could  be  spared  from  duty  was  obliged  to  be 
present.  The  logs  of  the  Concord  and  of  all  the 
vessels  commanded  by  Perry  show  that  under  his  dis 
cipline  less,  and  not  more,  than  the  average  of  stripes 
were  administered.  Perry  went  to  the  roots  of  the 
matter  and  was  more  anxious  to  apply  ounces  of 
prevention  than  pounds  of  cure.  The  cause  of  the 
offences  which  brought  the  cat  to  the  sailors'  back 
was  ardent  spirits.  He,  therefore,,  used  his  profes 
sional  influence  to  have  this  ration  abolished  to 
minors,  and  by  his  persistence  finally  succeeded.  By 
the  law  of  August  29,  1842,  the  spirit  ration  was  for 
bidden  to  all  under  twenty-one  years  old  —  money 
being  paid  instead  of  grog.  As  a  man,  he  personally 
persuaded  the  sailors  to  give  up  liquor  and  live  by 
temperance  principles.  In  this  noble  work  he  was 
remarkably  successful,  and  the  Concord\s&  the  squad 
ron  in  the  number  of  her  crew  who  voluntarily  aban- 


IX    THE    SEAS    OF    RUSSIA    AND    EGYPT.  8/ 

cloned  the  use  of  grog.     Hence,  fewer  floggings  and 
better  discipline. 

From  Copenhagen  the  run  was  made  to  Cowes,. 
Isle  of  Wight,  September  22,  and  thence  to  the 
Mediterranean.  At  Port  Mahon  the  Concord  joined 
the  squadron.  The  autumn  and  early  winter  were 
spent  in  active  cruising,  and  in  February  we  find 
Perry  at  Syracuse.  Ever  mindful  of  an  opportunity 
to  add  stores  of  science,  he  made  a  collection  of  the 
plants  of.  Sicily  and  forwarded  it  to  the  Massachu 
setts  Horticultural  Society.  A  box  of  other  speci 
mens  was  sent  to  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard. 

Leaving  Syracuse,  February  27,  for  Malta,  and 
touching  at  this  island,  Captain  Perry  sailed,  March 
13,  for  Alexandria,  having  on  board  the  Reverend  and 
Mrs.  Kirkland  and  Lady  Franklin  and  her  servants. 
Her  husband,  Sir  John  Franklin,  afterwards  world- 
renowned  as  an  Arctic  explorer,  was  at  this  time 
taking  an  active  part  in  the  Greek  war  of  liberation. 
Perry's  acquaintance  with  the  noble  lady  deepened 
into  a  friendship  that  lasted  throughout  his  life.  It 
was,  most  probably,  through  her  admiration  of  the 
discipline  and  ability  of  the  American  officers  and 
crews,  that  she  in  after  years  appealed  to  them  as 
well  as  to  Englishmen  to  rescue  her  husband.  Nev 
ertheless,  as  Chaplain  Jenks  noticed,  the  rose  had  its 
thorn.  "  Captain  Perry  had  a  trial  of  his  patience 
with  Lady  Franklin,  whom  he  took  on  board  when 
he  went  to  the  Mediterranean.  Lady  Franklin  was 
full  of  her  husband  ;  and,  of  course,  at  each  meal 


88  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

the  whole  company  had  to  hear  theories  and  suc 
cesses  and  memories  repeated  on  the  one  theme. 
Captain  Perry  bore  it  all  with  great  gentleness." 

Arriving  at  Alexandria,  March  26,  the  Concord  re 
mained  until  April  23.  The  officers  of  the  ship 
were  invited  to  dine  with  Mehemet,  the  Viceroy  of 
Egypt,  afterwards  the  famous  exterminator  of  the 
Mamelukes  and  of  the  feudal  system  which  they 
represented  and  upheld.  He  had  conquered  Soudan, 
built  Khartoum,  and  founded  the  Khedival  dynasty. 
The  officers  were  splendidly  entertained  by  this 
latest  master  of  the  "Old  House  of  Bondage." 
The  thirteen  swords,  presented  to  the  party,  were 
afterwards  sent  to  Washington  and  placed  in  the 
Department  of  State.  These  weapons,  still  to  be 
seen  in  the  section  devoted  to  curiosities,  are  of  ex 
quisite  workmanship.  The  "Mameluke  grip"  was 
afterwards  adopted  on  the  regulation  navy  swords. 

The  Concord,  raising  anchor,  April  3,  sailed  for 
Milo,  where  the  famous  statue  of  Venus  had  been 
found  a  few  weeks  before,  and  passed  Candia,  going 
thence  to  Napoli,  the  capital  of  Greece,  saluting  the 
British,  French  and  Russian  fleets,  and  the  Greek 
forts.  On  his  way  to  Smyrna,  a  rich  American  ves 
sel  received  convoy.  Another  was  met  which  had 
been  robbed  the  night  before  by  a  party  of  fifty 
pirates  in  a  boat. 

In  hopes  of  catching  the  thieves,  and  naturally 
enjoying  a  grim  joke,  Perry  put  a  number  of  sailors 
and  marines  in  hiding  on  the  richly-laden  merchant- 


IN    THE    SEAS    OF    RUSSIA    AND    EGYPT.  89 

man,  hoping  to  lure  the  pirates  to  another  attack. 
The  vessel,  however,  got  safely  to  Paros  without 
special  incident  of  any  kind.  He  then  visited  a 
number  of  the  robbers'  haunts  and  scoured  the 
coasts  with  boat  parties,  but  without  securing  any 
prizes.  The  Concord  then  went  to  Athens  to  bring 
away  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robertson,  an  American  mission- 
arv  there,  together  with  the  property  of  the  Amer 
ican  Episcopal  Mission,  which  had  been  broken  up 
by  the  war. 

In  accordance  with  the  excellent  naval  policy  of 
President  Jackson,  our  flag  was  shown  in  every 
Greek  and  Turkish  port.  Wool,  opium  and  drugs 
were  the  staples  of  export  carried  in  American  ves 
sels,  and  most  of  those  met  with  were  armed  with 
small  cannon  and  muskets.  Arriving  at  Port  Mahon, 
the  home  of  our  military  marine,  June  25,  1832, 
Perry  reported  a  list  of  the  vessels  convoyed.  It 
was  found  that  in  the  eighty-two  days  from  Alexandria, 
the  Concord  had  visited  twelve  islands,  anchored  in 
ten  ports,  and  that  the  ship  had  lain  in  port  only  six 
teen  days,  being  at  sea  sixty-four  days.  As  strict 
sanitary  regulations  had  been  enforced,  the  health  of 
the  crew  was  unusually  good. 

At  the  transfer  of  the  few  invalids  and  of  those 
whose  terms  of  service  had  expired,  the  bugler  struck 
up  the  then  new,  but  now  old,  strain  of  "  Home, 
Sweet  Home,"  which  brought  tears  to  many  of  the 
sailors'  eyes.  The  sight,  so  unusual,  of  a  crying 
sailor,  suggested  to  a  visitor  on  board  that  these 


9O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

tears  were  of  sorrow  for  leaving  the  Concord,  than  of 
joy  for  returning  home.  The  surrounding  cliffs  sent 
back  the  notes  in  prolonged  and  saddened  echoes. 
The  heart-melting  Sicilian  air,  without  whose  conse 
crating  melody,  the  stanzas  of  John  Howard  Payne 
might  long  since  have  sunk  into  the  ooze  of  oblivion, 
seemed  then,  as  now,  the  immortal  soul  of  a  perish 
able  body. 


CHAPTER    XL 

A    DIPLOMATIC    VOYAGE    IN    THE    FRIGATE    BRANDY- 
WINE. 

IN  his  next  cruise  which  we  are  now  to  describe, 
Perry  was  to  take  a  hand  directly  in  diplomacy,  and 
rehearse  for  the  more  brilliant  drama  of  Japan 
twenty  years  later. 

It  was  part  of  the  foreign  policy  of  Jackson's 
administration  to  compel  the  payment  of  the  long 
standing  claims  for  spoliations  on  American  com 
merce  by  the  great  Europen  belligerents.  During 
the  years  from  1809  to  1812,  the  Neapolitan  govern 
ment  under  Joseph  Bonaparte  and  Murat,  kings  of 
Naples,  had  confiscated  numerous  American  ships 
and  cargoes.  The  claims  filed  in  the  State  Depart 
ment  at  Washington  amounted  to  $1,734,993.88. 
They  were  held  by  various  Boston  and  Philadelphia 
insurance  companies  and  by  citizens  of  Baltimore. 
The  Hon.  John  Nelson  of  Frederic,  Md.  was 
appointed  Minister  to  Naples,  and  ordered  to  collect 
these  claims.  Even  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
in  1812,  contrary  to  the  general  opinion,  the  amount 
of  direct  spoliations  upon  American  commerce 
inflicted  by  France  and  the  nations  then  under  her 
influence  exceeded  that  experienced  from  Great 
Britain.  The  demands  from  our  government,  upon 


92  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

France,  Naples,  Spain  and  Portugal  had  been  again 
and  again  refused.  Jackson,  in  giving  the  debtors  of 
the  United  States  an  invitation  to  pay,  backed  it  by 
visible  arguments  of  persuasion.  He  selected  to  co 
operate  with  Mr.  Nelson  and  to  command  the 
Mediterrannan  squadron,  Commodore  Daniel  Pat 
terson  who  had  aided  him  in  the  defense  of  New 
Orleans  in  1815.  This  veteran  of  the  Tripolitan 
campaigns,  who  in  the  second  war  with  Great 
Britain  had  defended  New  Orleans,  and  aided 
Jackson  in  driving  back  Packenham,  was  now  61 
years  old.  He  was  familiar  with  the  western 
Mediterranean  from  his  service  as  a  Midshipman  of 
over  a  quarter  of  a  century  before.  At  Port  Mahon, 
August  25th,  1832,  he  received  the  command  from 
Commodore  Biddle.  The  squadron  there  consisted 
of  the  Brandy  wine,  Concord  and  Boston. 

This  was  "the  Cholera  year"  in  New  York,  and 
pratique,  or  permission  to  enter,  was  refused  to  the 
American  ships  at  some  of  the  ports.  For  this 
reason,  an  early  demonstration  at  Naples  was  decided 
upon.  Patterson's  plan  was  that  one  American  ship 
should  appear  at  first  in  the  harbour  of  Naples,  and 
then  another  and  another  in  succession,  until  the 
whole  squadron  of  floating  fortresses  should  be 
present  to  second  Mr.  Nelson's  demands.  The 
entire  force  at  his  command  was  three  fifty-gun 
frigates  and  three  twenty-gun  corvettes.  This  suf 
ficed,  according  to  the  programme,  for  a  naval  drama 
in  six  acts.  Commodore  Biddle  was  to  proceed  first 


VOYAGE    IN    THE    FRIGATE    BRANUYWINE.  93 

with  the  United  States,  then  the  Boston  and  Jo/in- 
Adams  with  Commodore  Patterson  were  to  follow. 

This  plan  for  effective  negotation  succeeded  admi 
rably,  though  great  energy  was  needed  to  carry  it 
out.  To  take  part  in  it,  Perry  was  obliged  to  sacri 
fice  not  only  personal  convenience,  but  also  to  make 
drafts  upon  his  purse  for  which  his  salary  of  $1200  per 
annum  poorly  prepared  him.  Returning  from  con 
voying  our  merchant  vessels  and  chasing  pirates  in 
the  Levant,  he  had  to  endure  the  annoyance  of  a 
quarantine  at  Port  Mahon  during  thirty  days ;  and 
this,  not  withstanding  all  on  board  the  Concord  were 
in  good  health.  Such  was  the  effect  of  the  fear  of 
cholera  from  New  York.  Despite  the  urgency  of  the 
business,  and  the  preciousness  of  time,  the  Concordy 
was  moored  fast  for  a  month  of  galling  idleness  by 
Portuguese  red  tape. 

Even  upon  quarantine  —  one  of  the  growths  and 
fruits  of  science — fasten  the  parasites  of  superstition. 
Besides  the  annoyance  and  loss  of  moral  stamina, 
which  such  unusual  confinement  produces,  it  may  be 
fairly  questioned  whether  quarantine  as  usually  en 
forced  does  not  do,  if  not  as  much  as  harm  as  good, 
a  vast  amount  of  injury.  Cut  off  from  regular  habits, 
and  immured  in  unhygienic  surroundings,  the  seeds. 
of  disease  are  often  sown  in  hardy  constitutions. 

After  thirty  days  of  imprisonment  on  board,  the 
officers  of  the  Concord  were  ready  to  hail  a  washer 
woman  as  an  angel  of  light.  They  were  all  looking 
forward  to  such  an  interview  with  lively  expectation, 


94  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

but  such  a  privilege  was  to  be  enjoyed  by  all  but  the 
Captain. 

At  the  last  hour,  Commodore  Biddle  fell  ill.  Un 
able  to  proceed,  as  ordered  by  the  Department,  to 
Naples,  Perry  was  directed  by  order  of  Commodore 
Patterson  to  assume  command  of  the  flagship  B  randy - 
•wine,  a  frigate  of  forty-four  guns.  This  ship,  which 
recalls  the  name  of  a  revolutionary  battle-field,  was- 
named  in  honor  of  Lafayette,  even  as  the  A/liana 
had  long  before  signalized,  by  her  name,  the  aid  aiu 
friendship  of  France  in  revolutionary  days.  She  hat 
been  launched  at  Washington  during  his  late  visit  t( 
America,  after  the  Marquis  had  visited  the  scenes  01 
the  battle  in  which  he  had  acted  as  Washington's 
aid. 

To  the  trying  duty  of  taking  a  new  ship  and  forc 
ing  her  with  all  speed  night  and  day  to  the  place 
needed,  Perry  was  called  before  he  could  even  get 
his  clothes  washed.  Yet  within  an  hour  after  his  re 
lease,  on  a  new  quarter  deck,  he  ordered  all  sails  set 
for  Naples.  For  several  days,  until  the  goal  was  in 
sight,  with  characteristic  vigor  and  determination  to 
succeed,  he  was  on  deck  night  and  day  enduring  the 
fatigue  and  anxiety  with  invincible  resolution. 

Mr.  Nelson's  demands  were  at  first  refused  by 
Count  Cassaro,  the  Secretary  of  State.  Why  should 
the  insolent  petty  government  of  the  Bourbon  prince 
Ferdinand  II.  notorious  for  its  infamous  misgover- 
ment  at  home,  pay  any  attention  to  an  almost  un 
known  republic  across  the  ocean  ?  No  !  The  Yankee 


VOYAGE    IX    THE    FRIGATE    BRANDYWINE.  95 

envoy,  coming  in  one  ship,  was  refused.  King  Bomba 
laughed. 

The  Brandywine  cast  anchor,  and  the  baffled  envoy 
waited  patiently  for  a  few  days,  when  another  Ameri 
can  flag  and  floating  fortress  sailed  into  the  harbor. 
It  was  the  frigate  United  States.  The  demands  were 
reiterated,  and  again  refused. 

Four  days  slipped  away,  and  another  stately  vessel 
floating  the  stars  and  stripes  appeared  in  the  bay. 
It  was  the  Concord.  The  Bourbon  government,  now 
thoroughly  alarmed,  repaired  forts,  drilled  troops  and 
mounted  more  cannon  on  the  castle.  Still  withhold 
ing  payment,  the  Neapolitans  began  to  collect  the 
cash  and  think  of  yielding. 

Two  days  later  still  another  war  ship  came  in.  It 
was  \hzjohn  Adams. 

When  the  fifth  ship  sailed  gallantly  in,  the  Neapol 
itans  were  almost  at  the  point  of  honesty,  but  three 
days  later  Mr.  Nelson  wrote  home  his  inability  to 
collect  the  bill. 

Just  as  the  blue  waters  of  the  bay  mirrored  the 
image  of  the  sixth  sail,  king  and  government 
yielded.* 

The  demands  were  fully  acceeded  to,  and  interest 
was  guaranteed  on  instalments.  Mr.  Nelson  frankly 
acknowledged  that  the  success  of  his  mission  was 
due  to  the  naval  demonstration.  •  Admiral  Patterson 
wrote,  "  I  have  remained  here  with  the  squadron  as 


*  The  Navv  in  Time  of  Peace,  by  Rear  Admiral  John  Almy. — 
Washington  Republican  March  13,  1884. 


96  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

its  presence  gave  weight  to  the  pending  negotiations.'* 
The  line  of  six  frigates  and  corvettes,  manned  by 
resolute  men  under  perfect  discipline,  and  under  a 
veteran's  command,  carried  the  best  artillery  in  the 
world.  Ranged  opposite  the  lava-paved  streets  oi 
the  most  densely  peopled  city  of  Europe,  and  in 
front  of  the  royal  castle,  they  formed  anirresistabk 
tableau.  Neither  the  castle  d'Oro,  nor  the  castle  St. 
Elmo,  nor  the  forts  could  have  availed  against  the 
guns  of  the  Yankee  fleet. 

The  entire  squadron  remained  in  the  Bay  of  Naples 
from  August  28,  to  September  15.  As  the  ships 
separated,  the  Brandy  wine  went  to  Marseilles,  and 
the  Jo Jin  Adams  to  Havre.  The  Concord  was  left 
behind  to  take  home  the  successful  envoy.  This 
compelled  Perry's  residence  in  Naples,  at  considera 
ble  personal  expense.  The  welcome  piping  of  the 
boatswain's  orders  to  lift  anchor  for  the  home  run 
was  heard  October  15.  The  ocean  crossed,  Cape 
Cod  was  sighted  December  3,  and  anchor  cast  at 
Portsmouth  December  5.  Mr.  Nelson  departed  in 
haste  to  Washington  to  deck  the  re-elected  Presi 
dent's  cap  with  a  new  diplomatic  feather,  which 
greatly  consoled  him  amid  his  nullification  annoy 
ances. 

Writing  on  the  twenty-first  of  December,  Perry 
stated  that  the  Concord  was  dismantled.  On  the 
next  day  he  applied  for  the  command  of  the  recruit 
ing  station  at  New  York,  as  his  family  now  made  its 
home  in  that  city- 


VOYAGE    IN    THE    FRIGATE    BRANDYWINE.  9/ 

This  cruise  of  thirty  months  was  fruitful  of  experi 
ence  of  nature,  man,  war, diplomacy,  and  travel.  He 
had  visited  the  dominions  of  nine  European  monarchs 
besides  Greece,  had  anchored  in  and  communicated 
with  forty  different  ports,  had  been  three  hundred 
and  forty-five  days  at  sea,  and  had  sailed  twenty- 
eight  thousand  miles.  No  officer  had  appeared  as 
prisoner  or  witness  at  a  court-martial,  and  on  no 
other  vessel  had  a  larger  proportion  of  men  given  up 
liquor.  Ship  and  crew  had  been  worthy  of  the 
name. 

During  all  the  cruise,  Perry  showed  himself  to  be 
what  rear-admiral  Ammen  fitly  styled  him,  "one  of 
the  principal  educators  of  our  navy."  He  directed 
the  studies  of  the  young  midshipmen,  advised  them 
what  books  to  read,  what  historical  sites  to  visit,  and 
what  was  most  worth  seeing  in  the  famous  cities. 
He  gave  them  sound  hints  on  how  to  live  as  gentle 
men  on  small  salaries.  He  infused  into  many  of 
them  his  own  peculiar  horror  of  debt.  He  sought 
constantly  to  elevate  the  ideal  of  navy  men.  The 
dogma  that  he  insisted  upon  was :  that  an  officer  in 
the  American  Navy  should  be  a  man  of  high  culture, 
abreast  of  the  ideas  of  the  age,  and  not  a  creature  of 
professional  routine.  He  heartily  seconded  the  zeal 
of  his  scholarly  chaplain,  Professor  Jenks,  who  was 
the  confidential  secretary  of  Commodore  Perry,  and 
so  became  very  intimate  with  him  during  the  cruise 
of  several  years.  He  was  the  interpreter  to  Captain 
Perry,  and  conducted  the  interviews  with  the  various 
crowned  heads. 


98  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Rear-Admiral  Almy  says  of  his  commander  Mat 
thew  Perry  at  this  time  that  :  "He  was  a  fine  looking 
officer  in  uniform,  somewhat  resembling  the  portraits 
of  his  brother  the  hero  of  Lake  Erie,  but  not  so 
handsome,  and  had  a  sterner  expression  and  was 
generally  stern  in  his  manner." 

For  the  expenses  incurred  during  this  cruise  in 
entertaining  the  Khedive  Mehemet  AH,  in  performing 
duties  far  above  his  grade,  his  extra  services  on  the 
Brandy  wine,  and  shore  residence  in  Naples,  Perry 
was  reimbursed  to  the  amount  of  $1,500,  by  a  special 
Act  of  Congress  passed  March  3,  1835. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  FOUNDER  OF  THE  BROOKLYN  NAVAL  LYCEUM. 

AN  English  writer  *  in  the  Naval  College  at  Green 
wich  thus  compares  the  life  on  shore  of  British  and 
American  officers. 

"  The  officers  of  the  United  States  navy  have  one 
great  advantage  which  is  wanting  to  our  own ;  when 
on  shore  they  are  not  necessarily  parted  from  the 
service,  but  are  employed  in  their  several  ranks,  in 
the  different  dockyards,  thus  escaping  not  only  the 
private  grievance  and  pecuniary  difficulties  of  a  very 
narrow  half-pay,  but  also,  what  from  a  public  point 
of  view  is  much  more  important,  the  loss  of  pro 
fessional  aptitude,  and  that  skill  which  comes  from 
increasing  practice." 

When  on  the  ;th  of  January  1833,  Captain  Perry 
received  orders  to  report  to  Commodore  Charles 
Ridgley  at  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  his  longest 
term,  ten  years,  of  shore  duty  began.  Being  now 
settled  down  with  his  family,  and  expecting  hence- 

*  J.  K.  Laughton,  Encyclopaedia  Brittanica,  vol.   ix.,  article 
"Farrasrut." 


TOO  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

forth  to  rear  his  children  in  New  York,  he  gave  notice 
April  24,  to  the  Navy  Department  that  his  name 
should  go  on  record  as  a  citizen  of  the  Empire  State. 
He  at  once  began  the  study  and  mastery  of  the  steam 
engine,  with  a  view  of  solving  the  problem  of  the  use 
of  steam  as  a  motor  for  war  vessels. 

That  Perry  was  "  an  educator  of  the  Navy,"  and 
that  he  left  his  mark  in  whatever  field  of  work  he 
occupied  was  again  signally  shown.  He  organized  the 
Brooklyn  Naval  Lyceum.  This  institution  which  still 
lives  in  honorable  usefulness  is  a  monument  of  his 
enterprise. 

The  New  York  Naval  Station  in  the  Wallabout,  or 
Boght  of  the  Walloons,  which  to-day  lies  under  the 
shadow  of  the  great  Suspension  Bridge,  is  easily 
accessible  by  horse-cars,  elevated  railways,  and  various 
steam  vehicles  on  land  und  water.  In  those  days,  it 
was  isolated,  and  ferry-boats  were  inferior  and  infre 
quent.  Hence  officers  were  compelled  to  be  longer 
at  the  Yard,  and  had  much  leisure  on  their  hands. 
Desirous  of  professional  improvement  for  himself 
and  his  fellow-officers,  Perry  was  alert  when  the 
golden  opportunity  arrived.  Finding  this  at  hand,  he 
first  took  immediate  steps  to  form  a  library  at  the 
Yard.  He  then  set  about  the  organization  of  the 
Lyceum,  whose  beginnings  were  humble  enough. 
About  this  time,  money  had  been  appropriated  to 
construct  a  new  building  for  the  officers  of  the  com 
mandant  and  his  assistants.  It  was  originally  in- 


THE  BROOKLYN  NAVAL  LYCEUM.        IOI 

tended  to  be  only  two  stories  in  height.  Perry  sugges 
ted  that  the  walls  be  run  up  another  story  for  extra 
rooms.  He  wrote  to  the  Department.  He  person 
ally  pressed  the  matter.  Permission  was  granted.  A 
third  floor  was  added.  It  was  to  be  used  for  Naval 
courts-martial,  Naval  Boards,  and  the  Museum, 
Library,  and  Reading  Room. 

The  Lyceum  organized  in  1833,  had  now  a  home. 
It  was  incorporated  in  1835,  and  allowed  to  hold 
$25,000  worth  of  property.  The  articles  of  union 
declared  the  Lyceum  formed  "  In  order  to  promote 
the  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge,  to  foster  a  spirit  of 
harmony  and  a  community  of  interests  in  the  service, 
and  to  cement  the  links  which  unite  us  as  profess 
ional  brethren." 

The  blazon  selected  was  a  naval  trophy  decorated 
•with  dolphins,  Neptune,  marine  and  war  emblems, 
eagle  and  flag,  with  the  motto,  "  Tarn  Minerva  quam 
Marie"  (as  well  for  Minerva,  as  for  Mars.)  A  free 
translation  of  this  would  be,  "  For  culture  as  well  as 
for  war." 

Commodore  C.  G.  Ridgley  was  chosen  President, 
as  was  befitting  his  rank.  Perry  assumed  an  hum 
bler  office,  though  he  was  the  moving  spirit  of  this, 
the  first  permanent  American  naval  literary  institu 
tion.  He  presided  at  its  initial  meeting.  He  was 
made  the  first  curator  of  the  museum,  in  1836  its 
Vice  President;  and  later,  its  President.  Officers 
and  citizens  employed  by,  or  connected  with  the 


IO2  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

navy  came  forward  in  goodly  numbers  as  members. 
Soon  a  snug  little  revenue  enabled  the  Lyceum  to 
purchase  the  proper  furniture  and  cases  for  the 
specimens  which  began  to  accumulate,  as  the  new 
enterprise  and  its  needs  began  to  be  known.  Pub 
lishers  and  merchants  made  grants  of  books,  pic 
tures  and  engravings.  Other  accessions  to  the 
library  were  secured  by  purchase.  From  the  be 
ginning,  and  for  years  afterwards,  the  Lyceum  grew 
and  prospered.  "  Although  other  officers  rendered 
valuable  service  in  the  organization,  yet  the  master 
spirit  was  Captain  Matthew  C.  Perry,  United  States. 
Navy.  From  that  day  to  this,  the  Naval  Lyceum- 
has  been  a  fertile  source  of  professional  instruction 
and  improvement."  Among  the  honorary  members 
were  four  captains  in  the  British  navy,  three  of  whose 
names,  Parry,  Ross  and  Franklin,  are  imperishably 
associated  with  the  annals  of  Arctic  discoveries. 

Out  of  the  Lyceum  grew  the  Naval  Magazine,  an 
excellent  bi-monthly,  full  of  interest  to  officers.  Of 
this  Perry  was  an  active  promoter,  and  to  it  he  con 
tributed  abundantly,  though  fe;v  or  none  of  the  arti 
cles  bear  his  signature.  Always  full  of  ideas,  and 
able  to  express  them  tersely,  the  editor  could  depend 
on  him  for  copy,  and  he  did.  The  Naval  Magazine 
was  edited  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Stewart.  The  Advi 
sory  Committee  consisted  of  Commodore  C.  G. 
Ridgley,  Master  Commandant  M.  C.  Perry,  C.  O- 
Handy,  Esq.,  Purser  W.  Swift,  Esq.,  Lieutenant 


THE  BROOKLYN  NAVAL  LYCEUM.        IO3; 

Alexander  Slidell  Mackenzie,  Professor  E.  C.  Ward,, 
and  passed  Midshipman  B.  I.  Moller.  Its  subscrip 
tion  price  was  three  dollars  per  annum.  Among  the 
contributors  were  J.  Fenimore  Cooper,  William  C. 
Redfield,  Esq.,  Chaplain  Walter  C.  Colton  and  Dr. 
Usher  Parsons.  In  looking  over  the  bound  volumes 
of  this  magazine  —  one  of  the  mighty  number  of  the 
dead  in  the  catacombs  of  American  periodical  litera 
ture —  we  find  some  articles  of  sterling  value  and 
perennial  interest.  It  was  fully  abreast  of  the  science 
of  the  age,  and  urged  persistently  the  creation  of  a 
Naval  Academy. 

The  magazine  died,  but  the  Lyceum  lived  on  to 
do  a  good  work  for  many  years,  notably  during  our 
great  civil  war.  It  is  still  flourishing  and  is  vis 
ited  by  tens  of  thousands  of  persons  from  all  parts 
of  our  country. 

Perry  had  already  made  his  reputation  as  a  scien 
tific  student.  His  motto  was  "  semper  paratus!'  He 
was  ever  in  readiness  for  work.  The  British  Admi 
ralty  and  the  United  States  government  were  desir 
ous  of  fuller  information  about  the  tides  and  currents 
of  the  Atlantic  ocean,  especially  those  off  Rhode 
Island  and  in  the  Sound.  Chosen  for  the  work,  Perry 
received  orders,  June  1st,  to  spend  a  lunar  month  on 
Gardiner's  Island.  The  congenial  task  afforded  a 
pleasant  break  in  the  monotony  of  life  in  the  navy 
yard,  and  revived  memories  of  the  war  of  1812.  The 
careful  observations  which  he  made  during  the  month 


104  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

•of  June,  embodied  in  a  report,  were  adopted  into  th^ 
United  States  and  British  Admiralty  charts.  HJ 
returned  home,  June  29. 

Though  Commodore  Ridgley  was  officer-in-chief 
in  the  yard,  upon  Perry  fell  most  of  the  active  cleri 
cal  and  superintending  work.  The  frigate,  United 
States,  was  fitting  out  for  service  in  the  Mediterra 
nean,  and  one  of  the  young  midshipmen  ordered  t:> 
report  to  her  was  the  gentleman  who  afterwards  be 
came  Rear-Admiral  George  H.  Preble,  a  gallart 
soldier,  fighter  of  Chinese  pirates,  and  author  of  the 
History  of  tJie  American  Flag  and  of  Steam  Navi 
gation  . 

He  reported  to  the  Navy  Yard,  May  I,  1836,  iti 
trembling  anxiety  as  to  his  reception  by  his  supe 
riors.  The  commandant  was  absent  at  the  horse 
races  on  the  Long  Island  course,  so  young  Preble 
returned  to  New  York,  to  his  hotel,  and  again  re 
ported  May  3. 

His  first  impressions  of  Master  Commandant  Perry 
are  shown  in  the  following  doggerel,  written  in  a  let 
ter  to  his  sister : 

"  Charley  again  was  at  the  race, 
But  I  was  minded  that  the  place 
Should  own  me  as  a  Mid. 
And  s;nce  the  Com.  was  making  merry, 
Reported  to  big-whiskered  Perry 
The  Captain  of  the  Yard. 


THE  BROOKLYN  NAVAL  LYCEUM.        I 05 

"  '  Mat '  looked  at  me  from  stem  to  stern, 
His  gaze  I  thought  he  ne'er  would  turn, 
No  doubt  he  thought  me  green. 
For  I  had  on  a  citizen's  coat 
Instead  of  a  uniform  as  I  ought, 
When  going  to  report. 

"  At  last  he  said  that  I  could  go, 
There  was  no  duty  I  could  do, 
Until  the  next  day  morning. 
So  I  whisked  o'er  and  moved  my  traps, 
And  made  acquaintance  with  the  chaps 
Who  were  to  live  with  me." 

Perry  at  this  time  wore  whiskers,  and  for  some 
years  afterwards  cultivated  sides  in  front  of  the  ear. 
In  later  life  he  shaved  his  face  clean.  The  fashion 
in  the  navy  was  to  wear  only  sides,  as  portraits  of  all 
the  heroes  of  1812  show.  The  younger  officers 
were  just  beginning  to  sport  moustaches.  These 
modern  fashions  and  "  such  fripperies "  were  de 
nounced  by  the  older  men,  who  clung  to  their  an 
tique  prejudices.  Hawthorne,  in  his  American  Note 
Book,  August  27,  1837,  gives  an  amusing  instance 
of  this,  couched  in  the  language  with  which  he  was 
able  to  make  the  commonest  subject  fascinating. 

That  the  regulations  should  prescribe  the  exact 
amount  of  hair  to  be  worn  on  the  face  of  both 
officers  and  men  seems  strange,  but  it  is  true,  and 
illustrates  the  rigidity  of  naval  discipline.  Evidently 
inheriting  the  modern  British  (not  the  ancient  Brit- 


IO6  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

tanic)  hatred  of  French  and  continental  customs,  the 
Americans,  in  high  office,  forbade  moustaches  as  sav 
oring  of  disloyalty.  Wellington  had  issued  an  order 
forbidding  moustaches,  except  for  cavalry.  It  was 
not  until  the  year  of  grace,  1853,  that  the  American 
naval  visage  was  emancipated  from  slavery  to  the 
razor.  Secretary  Dobbin  then  approved  of  the  cau 
tious  regulation:  "The  beard  to  be  worn  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  individual,  but  when  worn  to  be  kept 
short  and  neatly  trimmed."  What  a  shame  it  must 
have  seemed  to  feminine  admirers,  and  to  the  pos 
sessors  of  luxuriant  beards  of  attractive  color  !  Both 
the  hairy  and  hairless  were,  perforce,  placed  in  the 
same  democracy  of  homeliness.  The  ancient  orders, 
in  the  interest  of  ships'  barbers,  and  once  made  to 
compensate  for  the  wearing  of  perukes,  were  crowned 
by  the  famous  proclamation  of  Secretary  Graham, 
dated  May  8,  1852,  which  at  this  date  furnishes 
amusing  reading: 

"The  hair  of  all  persons  belonging  to  the  Navy,  when 
in  actual  service,  is  to  be  kept  short.  No  part  of  the 
beard  is  to  be  worn  long,  and  the  whiskers  shall  not  de 
scend  more  than  two  inches  below  the  ear,  except  at  sea, 
in  high  latitudes,  when  this  regulation  may,  for  the  time, 
be  dispensed  with  by  order  of  the  commander  of  a  squai:- 
ron,  or  of  a  vessel  acting  under  separate  orders.  Neither 
moustaches  nor  imperials  are  to  be  worn  by  officers  or  men 
on  any  pretence  whatever" 


THE  BROOKLYN  NAVAL  LYCEUM.        IO/ 

Our  illustrious  Admiral  Porter  shaved  only  once 
or  twice  in  his  life.  During  the  Mexican  War  he 
found  it  difficult  to  get  Commodore  Conner  to  give 
him  service  on  account  of  his  full  whiskers.  The 
British  army  wore  their  beards  and  now  fashionable 
moustaches  in  the  trenches  of  Sebastopol,  when  it 
was  difficult,  if  not  impossible  to  get  shaved,  and 
thus  won  a  hairy  victory,  the  results  of  which  were 
felt  even  across  the  Atlantic. 

Another  high  honor  offered  to  Perry,  was  the  com 
mand  of  the  famous  U.  S.  Exploring  Expedition  to 
Antarctic  lands  and  seas.  This  enterprise  was  the 
evolution  of  an  attempt  to  obtain  from  Congress  an 
appropriation  to  find  "Symmes  Hole."  The  orig 
inator  of  the  "  Theory  of  Concentric  Spheres"  was 
John  Cleves  Symmes,  born  in  1780,  and  an  officer 
in  the  United  States  army  during  the  war  of  1812, 
who  died  in  1829.  In  lectures  at  Union  College, 
Schenectady,  and  in  other  places,  he  expounded  his 
belief  that  the  earth  is  hollow  and  capable  of  hab 
itation,  and  that  there  is  an  opening  at  each  of  the 
poles,  leading  to  the  various  spheres  inside  of  the 
greater  hollow  sphere,  the  earth  itself.  He  peti 
tioned  Congress  to  fit  out  an  expedition  to  test  this 
theory,  which  had  been  set  forth  in  his  lectures  and 
in  a  book  published  at  Cincinnati  in  1826. 

Despite  the  ridicule  heaped  upon  Symmes  and  his 
theories,  scientific  men  believed  that  the  Antarctic 
region  should  be  explored.  Congress  voted  that  a 


108  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

corps  of  scientific  men,  in  six  vessels,  should  be  sent 
out  for  four  years  in  the  interests  of  observation  and 
research.  This  was  one  of  the  first  of  those  "peace- 
expeditions,"  no  less  renowned  than  those  in  war,  01* 
which  the  American  nation  and  navy  may  well  be 
proud. 

By  this  time,  however,  Perry  had  become  inter 
ested  in  the  idea  of  creating  a  steam  navy.  He 
declined  the  honor,  but  took  a  keen  interest  in  the 
expedition.  An  ardent  believer  in  Polar  research, 
he  was  heartily  glad  to  see  the  boundaries  of  knowl 
edge  extended.  He  had  read  carefully  the  record  of 
the  five  years'  voyage  of  the  British  sloop-of-war 
Beagle.  In  this  vessel,  Mr.  Darwin  began  those  pro 
found  speculations  on  the  origin  and  maintainance  of 
animal  life,  which  have  opened  a  new  outlook  upon 
the  universe  and  created  a  fertile  era  of  thought. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  applied  to  the  Naval 
Lyceum  for  advice  as  to  the  formation  of  a  scientific 
corps,  for  recommendation  of  names  of  members  of 
said  corps,  for  a  series  of  inquiries  for  research,  and 
details  of  the  correct  equipment  of  such  an  expe 
dition.  To  thus  recognise  the  dignity  and  status  of 
the  Lyceum  was  highly  gratifying  to  its  founder  and 
appreciated  by  the  society.  A  committee  consisting 
of  three  officers,  C.  G.  Ridgley,  M.  C.  Perry  and  C. 
O.  Handy,  was  appointed  to  make  the  report.  This, 
when  printed,  filled  eleven  pages  of  the  magazine. 
It  was  mainly  the  work  of  M.  C.  Perry.  The  practical 


THE    BROOKLYN    NAVAL    LYCEUM.  IO9 

nature  of  the  programme  was  recognized  at  once.  It 
was  incorporated  into  the  official  instructions  for  the 
conduct  of  the  expedition.  The  command  was  most 
worthily  bestowed  on  Lieutenant  Charles  Wilkes. 

The  success  of  this,  the  first  American  exploring 
expedition  of  magnitude  is  known  to  all,  through  the 
publication  entitled  The  Wilkes  Exploring  Expedition, 
as  well  as  by  the  additions  to  our  herbariums  and 
gardens  of  strange  plants,  and  the  goodly  spoils  of 
science  now  in  the  Smithsonian  Institute. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    FATHER    OF    THE    AMERICAN    STEAM    NAVY. 

MATTHEW  PERRY  was  now  to  be  called  to  a  new  and 
untried  duty.  This  was  no  less  than  to  be  pioneer 
of  the  steam  navy  of  the  United  States.  When  a 
boy  under  Commodore  Rodgers,  he  had  often  seen 
the  inventor,  Fulton,  busy  with  his  schemes.  He 
had  heard  the  badinage  of  good-natured  doubters  and 
the  jeers  of  the  unbelieving,  but  he  had  also  seen  the 
Demologos,  or  Fulton  1st,  moving  under  steam.  This 
formidable  vessel  was  to  have  been  armed,  in  addition 
to  her  deck  batteries,  with  submarine  cannon.  She 
was  thus  the  prototype  of  Ericsson's  Destroyer. 
Fulton  died  February  24th,  1815,  but  the  trial  trip 
was  made  June  1st,  1815,  and  was  successful. 

Congress  on  the  3Oth  of  June,  1834,  had  appropri 
ated  five  thousand  dollars  to  test  the  question  of  the 
safety  of  boilers  in  vessels.  The  next  step  was  to 
order  the  building  of  a  "steam  battery  "  at  the  Brook 
lyn  Navy  Yard  in  1836.  Perry  applied  for  command 
of  this  vessel  July  28th.  His  orders  arrived  August 
3ist,  1837. 

The  second  Fulton,  the  pioneer  of  our  American 
steam  navy,  was  designed  as  a  floating  battery  for 
the  defense  of  New  York  harbor.  Her  hull  was  of 


THE    AMERICAN    STEAM    NAVY.  Ill 

the  best  live  oak,  with  heavy  bulwarks  five  feet  thick, 
beveled  on  the  outside  so  as  to  cause  an  enemy's  shot 
to  glance  off.  She  had  three  masts  and  was  180  feet 
long.  She  had  four  immense  chimneys,  which  great 
ly  impeded  her  progress  in  a  head  wind.  Her  boilers 
were  of  copper.  Like  most  of  those  then  in  use, 
these,  where  they  connected  with  iron  pipes  were 
apt  to  create  a  galvanic  action  which  caused  leaks. 
Thrice  was  the  vessel  disabled  on  this  account.  The 
paddle-wheels,  with  enormous  buckets  were  22  feet 
10  inches  in  diameter.  Her  armament  consisted  of 
eight  forty-two  pounders,  and  one  twenty-four  pound 
er.  Her  total  cost  was  $299,650.  She  carried  in  her 
lockers,  coal  for  two  days,  and  drew  10  feet  6  inches 
of  water. 

Perry  took  command  of  the  Fulton  October  4th, 
1837,  when  the  smoke-pipes  were  up,  and  the  engines 
ready  for  an  early  trial.  His  work  was  more  than  to 
hasten  forward  the  completion  of  the  new  steam  bat 
tery.  He  was  practically  to  organize  an  entirely  new 
branch  of  naval  economy.  There  were  in  the  marine 
war  service  of  the  United  States  absolutely  no  pre 
cedents  to  guide  him. 

Again  he  had  to  be  "an  educator  of  the  navy." 
To  show  how  far  the  work  was  left  to  him,  and  was 
his  own  creation,  we  may  state  that  no  authority  had 
been  given  and  no  steps  taken  to  secure  firemen, 
assistant  engineers,  or  coal  heavers.  The  details, 
duties,  qualifications,  wages,  and  status  in  the  navy 
of  the  whole  engineer  corps  fell  upon  Perry  to  settle. 


112  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

He  wrote  for  authority  to  appoint  first  and  second 
class  engineers.  He  proposed  that  $25  to  $30  a 
month,  and  one  ration,  should  be  given  as  pay  to  fire 
men,  and  that  they  should  be  good  mechanics  familiar 
with  machinery,  the  use  of  stops,  cocks,  guages,  and 
the  paraphernalia  of  iron  and  brass  so  novel  on  a 
man-of-war. 

Knowing  that  failure  in  the  initiative  of  the  exper 
imental  steam  service  might  prejudice  the  public, 
and  especially  the  incredulous  and  sneering  old  salts 
who  had  no  faith  in  the  new  fangled  ideas,  he  re 
quested  that  midshipmen  for  the  Fulton  should  be 
first  trained  in  seamanship  prior  to  their  steamer  life. 
He  was  also  especially  particular  about  the  moral 
and  personal  character  of  the  "line"  officers  who 
were  first  to  live  in  contact  with  a  new  and  strange 
kind  of  "staff."  It  is  difficult  in  this  age  of  war 
steamers,  when  a  sailing  man  of-war  or  even  a  paddle- 
wheel  steamer  is  a  curiosity,  to  realize  the  jealousy 
felt  by  sailors  of  the  old  school  towards  the  un-naval 
men  of  guages  and  stop-cocks.  They  foresaw  only 
too  clearly  that  steam  was  to  steal  away  the  poetry 
of  the  sea,  turn  the  sailor  into  a  coal-heaver,  and  the 
ship  into  a  machine. 

Perry  demanded  in  his  line  officers  breadth  of  view 
sufficient  to  grasp  the  new  order  of  things.  They 
must  see  in  the  men  of  screws  and  levers  equality  of 
courage  as  well  as  of  utility.  They  must  be  of  the 
co-operative  cast  of  mind  and  disposition.  From  the 
very  first,  he  foresaw  that  jealousy  amounting  almost 


THE    AMERICAN    STEAM    NAVY.  113 

to  animosity  would  spring  up  between  the  line  and 
staff  officers,  between  the  deck  and  the  hold,  and  he 
•determined  to  reduce  it  to  a  minimum.  The  new 
middle  term  between  courage  and  cannon  \vas  caloric. 
He  would  provide  precedents  to  act  as  anti-friction 
buffers  so  as  to  secure  a  maximum  of  harmony. 

"The  officers  of  a  steamer  should  be  those  of 
established  discretion,  not  only  that  great  vigilence 
will  be  required  of  them,  but  because  much  tact  and 
forbearance  must  necessarily  be  exercised  in  their 
intercourse  with  the  engineers  and  firemen  who, 
coming  from  a  class  of  respectable  mechanics  and 
unused  to  the  restraints  and  discipline  of  a  vessel  of 
war,  may  be  made  discontented  and  unhappy  by  in 
judicious  treatment ;  and,  as  passed  midshipmen  are 
supposed  to  be  more  staid  and  discreet  I  should  pre 
fer  most  of  that  class." 

"  In  this  organization  of  the  officers  of  this  first 
American  steamer  of  war,  I  am  solicitous  of  establish 
ing  the  service  on  a  footing  so  popular  and  respecta 
ble,  as  to  be  desired  by  those  of  the  navy  who  may 
be  emulous  of  acquiring  information  in  a  new  and 
interesting  field  of  professional  employment,  and  I 
am  sure  that  the  Department  will  co-operate  so  far  as 
it  may  be  proper  in  the  attainment  of  the  object." 

That  was  Matthew  Perry — ever  magnifying  his 
office  and  profession.  He  believed  that  responsibility 
helped  vastly  to  make  the  man.  He  suggested  that 
engineers  take  the  oath,  and  from  first  to  last  be  held 
to  those  sanctions  and  to  that  discipline,  which  would 


114  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

create  among  them  the  esprit  so  excellent  in  the  line 
officers. 

Out  of  many  applicants  for  engineer's  posts  on  the 
Fulton,  Perry,  to  November  i6th,  had  selected  only 
one,  as  he  was  determined  to  get  the  best.  He  be 
lieved  in  the  outward  symbols  of  honor  and  authority. 
"  In  order  to  give  them  a  respectable  position,  and  to 
encourage  pride  of  character  in  their  intercourse  with 
citizens,  and  to  make  them  emulous  to  conduct  them 
selves  with  propriety,  I  would  respectfully  suggest 
that  a  uniform  be  assigned  to  them."  He  proposed 
the  usual  suit  of  plain  blue  coat  with  rolling  collar, 
blue  trousers,  and  plain  blue  cap.  The  distinction 
between  first  and  second  engineers  should  be  visible, 
only  in  the  number  and  arrangement  of  the  buttons  ; 
the  first  assistant  to  wear  seven,  and  the  second  as 
sistant  six  in  front,  both  having  one  on  each  collar, 
and  slight  variation  on  the  skirts.  Later  on,  the 
paddle-wheel  wrought  in  gold  bullion  was  added  as 
part  of  the  uniform.  "The  olive  branch  and  paddle- 
wheel  on  the  collars  of  the  engineers  designated  their 
special  vocation,  and  spoke  of  the  peaceful  progress 
of  art  and  science." 

The  sailors,  who  as  a  class  are  too  apt  to  be  chil 
dren  of  superstition,  were  somewhat  backward  about 
enlisting  on  a  war-ship  with  a  boiler  inside  ready  to 
turn  into  an  enemy  if  struck  by  a  shot  ;  but  at  last 
after  many  and  unforeseen  delays,  the  Fulton  got  out 
into  the  harbor  early  in  December.  Steam  was  raised 
in  thirty  minutes  from  cold  water.  Many  of  the 


THE    AMERICAN    STEAM    NAVY.  115 

leading  engineers  and  practical  mechanics  were  on 
board.  With  ten  inches  of  steam  marked  on  the 
guage,  and  twenty  revolutions  a  minute,  she  made 
ten  knots  an  hour,  justifying  the  hope  that  she  would 
increase  her  speed  to  twelve  or  even  thirteen  knots. 
The  first  assistant-engineers  of  this  pioneer  war 
steamer  were  Messrs.  John  Farron,  Nelson  Burt,  and 
Hiram  Sanford. 

The  Chief  Engineer  was  Mr.  Charles  H.  Haswell, 
now  the  veteran  city  surveyor  of  New  York. 

Perry  wrote  December  17,  1837,  "I  have  estab 
lished  neat  and  economical  uniforms  for  the  different 
grades."  He  also  arranged  their  accommodations  on 
the  vessel,  and  their  routine  of  life  was  soon  estab 
lished.  A  trial  trip  to  go  outside  the  bay  and  in  the 
ocean  was  arranged  for  December  28,  .but  the  old- 
fashioned  condensing  apparatus  worked  badly.  The 
machinery  of  the  Fulton,  though  perhaps  the  best  for 
the  time,  was  of  rude  pattern  as  compared  with  the 
superb  work  turned  out  today  in  American  foundries. 
Even  this  clumsy  mechanical  equipment  had  not 
been  obtained  without  great  anxiety,  patience,  and 
delay,  and  by  taxing  all  the  resources  of  the  New 
York  machine  shops. 

Of  her  value  as  a  moving  fortress,  Perry  wrote : 
"The  Fulton  will  never  answer  as  a  sea-vessel,  but 
the  facility  of  moving  from  port  to  port,  places  at 
the  service  of  the  Department,  a  force  particularly 
available  for  the  immediate  action  at  any  point." 
With  the  lively  remembrance  of  the  efficiency  of  the 


Il6  MATTHEW    CALBRAITK    PERRY. 

British  blockade  of  New  York  and  New  London  in 
the  war  of  1812,  he  adds,  "  In  less  than  an  hour, 
after  orders  are  received,  the  Fulton  can  be  moving 
in  any  direction  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour, 
with  power  of  enforcing  the  instructions  of  the 
government." 

On  the  1 5th  of  January  1838,  Captain  Perry  re 
ceived  orders  to  carry  out  the  Act  of  Congress,  and 
cruise  along  the  coast.  Perry  wrote  pointing  out,  (I) 
that  the  heavy  and  clumsy  Fulton,  a  veritable  floating 
fortress  being  unlike  ocean  steamers,  was  not  likely 
to  prove  seaworthy,  (2)  she  was  adapted  only  to  bays 
and  harbors,  (3)  she  could  carrry  f uel  only  for  seventy 
hours  consumption ;  (4),  that  no  deposits  of  coal 
were  yet  made  along  the  coast ;  (5),  that  her  wheel 
guards  being  only  twenty  inches  clear,  the  boat  would 
be  extremely  wet  and  dangerous  at  sea.  Neverthe 
less  he  promised  to  take  this  floating  battery  out  into 
the  ocean  back  to  the  coaling  depot,  and  thence 
through  the  Long  Island  Sound. 

Accordingly  January  18,  the  Fulton  steamed  down 
to  Sandy  Hook  and  anchoring  at  night,  ran  out  as 
the  wintry  weather  permitted  during  the  day.  In  a 
wind  the  vessel  labored  hard.  She  lay  so  low  in  the 
water,  that  several  of  her  wheel  buckets  were  lost  or 
injured,  and  the  previous  opinion  of  naval  men  was 
confirmed.  Nevertheless,  Perry  was  astonished  at 
her  power,  and  her  facility  of  management  demon 
strated  a  new  thing  on  board  a  vessel  of  war.  Hav 
ing  asked  for  the  written  opinion  of  his  officers, 


THE    AMERICAN    STEAM    NAVY.  I  \J 

several  interesting  replies  were  elicited.  The  Acting 
Master  C.  W.  Pickering  noted  that  the  Fulton  carried 
six  forty-four  pounders,  and  being  a  steamer  could 
have  choice  of  position  and  distance.  Two  or  three  of 
such  vessels  could  cripple  a  whole  enemy's  squadron 
or  destroy  it.  In  case  of  a  calm,  she  could  fight  a 
squadron  all  day,  and  not  receive  a  shot.  In  case  of 
chase,  or  light  winds,  she  could  destroy  a  squadron 
one  by  one,  or  tow  them  separately  out  of  sight  as 
was  desired.  The  trial  in  the  Sound  proved  her  one 
of  the  fastest  boats  known.  From  New  London  with 
9  1-2  inches  steam  she  made  twenty-eight  miles  in 
one  hour  and  fifty-seven  minutes,  or  one  hundred  and 
eighteen  miles  in  little  less  than  nine  hours. 

Her  utility  on  a  blockade  was  manifest,  and  her 
advantage  in  every  point  over  sailing  vessels  demon 
strated.  She  would  in  a  fight  be  equal  to  any 
"seventy-four"  and  in  fact  to  any  number  of  vessels 
not  propelled  by  steam.  Her  strength  and  power 
were  unrivalled  in  the  world. 

Lieut.  Wm.  F.  Lynch,  afterwards  the  Dead  Sea  ex 
plorer  and  later  the  Confederate  Commodore,  sug 
gested  a  better  arrangement  of  her  battery.  Taking 
a  hint  from  Jackson's  cotton-bale  breast-works  of 
1815,  he  pointed  out  how  the  Fulton  might  be  made 
cotton-clad  and  shot-proof.  He  carried  out  his  idea  in 
later  years,  and  some  of  the  confederate  steamers  in 
the  civil  war  were  so  armed  and  made  formidable. 
It  is  interesting  to  read  now  what  he  wrote  in  1838. 
"  The  machinery  can  easily  be  protected  by  cotton 


Il8  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

bales,  or  other  light  elastic  material  between  it  and 
the  ship's  side."  The  idea  of  protecting  armor  to 
war  ships  was  first  conceived  by  Americans. 

In  fact,  all  the  opinions  as  to  the  Fulton  s  capacity 
for  the  offense  or  defense  were  favorable.  A  glow  of 
enthusiasm  pervades  the  reports  of  those  on  board 
the  maiden  trip  of  this  the  first  American  war 
steamer.  Perry  himself  saw  her  defects,  and  how 
they  could  be  remedied.  Her  machinery  and  hori 
zontal  engines  took  up  too  much  room.  Yet  even  as 
she  was,  her  annual  expenses  would  be  less  than  a 
first  class  vessel  of  war  under  sail  with  proportionate 
crew,  provisions,  and  canvass. 

By  prophetic  insight,  Perry  saw  that  the  revolution 
in  naval  education,  tactics  and  warfare  had  already 
dawned.  Writing  from  Montauk  Point,  February  6} 
1838,  he  suggested  that  a  training  school  for  naval 
engineers  should  be  established  by  the  government, 
that  firemen  apprentices  should  be  enlisted  and 
trained,  stating  that  these  had  better  be  sons  of  engi 
neers  and  firemen.  The  Secretary  immediately 
approved  of  his  suggestion  in  a  letter  dated  February 
13,  1838.  He  directed  Commodore  Ridgely  to  place 
on  the  Fulton  five  apprentices  to  be  exclusively  at 
tached  to  the  engineer's  department.*  What  was  first 
suggested  by  Perry,  is  now  magnificently  realized  in 
the  Annapolis  Naval  Academy,  with  its  six  years 
course  in  engineering,  graduating  yearly  a  corps  of 
cadet  engineers  among  the  best  in  the  world. 

*  See  Appendix — The  Naval  Apprenticeship  System. 


THE    AMERICAN    STEAM    NAVY.  119 

In  a  further  report,  written  from  Gardiner's  Island 
February  17,  1838,  Perry  uttered  his  faith  that  sea 
going  war  steamers  of  1400  or  1500  tons  could  be 
built  to  cruise  at  sea  even  for  twenty  days,  and  yet 
be  efficient  and  as  safe  from  disaster  as  the  finest 
frigates  afloat,  while  the  expense  would  be  considera 
bly  less.  This  was  a  brave  utterance  at  a  time  when 
the  number  of  believers  in  the  possibility  of  the 
financial  success  of  ocean  steam  navigation,  or  of  the 
practicability  of  large  war  vessels  propelled  by  steam, 
was  very  few  indeed.  Perry's  letter  was  read  and 
re-read  by  the  Naval  Commissioners. 

In  May,  he  took  the  Fulton  to  Washington,  where 
President  Jackson  and  his  cabinet  enjoyed  the  sight 
of  a  war-ship  independent  of  wind  and  tide.  It  was 
intimated  to  Perry  that  he  should  be  sent  to  Europe 
to  study  the  latest  results  in  steam,  ordnance,  and 
light-house  illumination. 

The  year  1837  was  a  memorable  one  for  Matthew 
Perry,  marking  his  promotion  to  a  Captaincy  in  the 
United  States  Navy.  The  emblazoned  parchment 
bearing  President  Andrew  Jackson's  signature  is 
dated  February  9,  1837.  He  ranked  number  forty- 
four  in  the  list  of  the  fifty  naval  captains  allowed  by 
law.  By  the  Act  of  Congress  of  March  8,  1835,  the 
pay  of  a  captain  off  duty  was  $2,500,  on  duty,  $3,500,. 
and  in  command  of  a  foreign  squadron,  $4,000. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

PERRY    DISCOVERS    THE    RAM. 

AN  accident  which  happened  to  the  Fulton  belongs 
to  the  history  of  modern  warfare.  It  revealed  to 
Perry's  alert  mind  a  valuable  principle  destined  to 
work  a  revolution  in  the  tactics  of  naval  battles. 
Like  the  mountaineer  of  Potosi  who  when  his  bush 
failed  as  a  support,  found  something  better  in  the 
silver  beneath,  so  Perry  discovered  at  the  roots  of  a 
chance  accident  a  new  element  of  power  in  war. 

The  Fulton  was  rather  a  massive  floating  battery 
than  a  sea-steamer.  Once  started,  her  speed  for 
those  days  was  respectable,  but  to  turn  her  was  no 
easy  matter.  To  stop  her  quickly  was  an  impossi 
bility. 

On  the  28th  of  August,  the  Fulton,  while  making  her 
way  to  Sandy  Hook  amid  the  dense  crowd  of  sloops, 
schooners,  ships  and  ferry-boats  of  the  East  river, 
came  into  partial  collision  with  the  Montevideo. 
The  brig  lay  at  anchor,  and  Lieutenant  Lynch  in 
charge  of  the  Fulton,  wished  to  pass  her  stern,  and 
ahead  of  her  starboard  quarter.  When  nearly  up 
with  the  brig,  the  flood  tide  running  strongly  caused 
her  to  sheer  suddenly  to  the  full  length  of  her  cable 
.and  thus  brought  her  directly  in  line  of  the  contem- 


PERRY    DISCOVERS    THE    RAM.  121 

plated  route.  Lynch,  to  save  life,  was  obliged  to 
destroy  property  and  strike  the  brig. 

The  steamer's  cutter  and  gig  were  stove  in  and 
her  bulwarks,  in  paint  and  nails,  somewhat  injured. 
With  the  brig  the  case  was  different.  Though  only 
a  glancing  stroke,  the  smitten  vessel  was  all  but 
sunk. 

Captain  Perry  was  not  on  board  the  Fulton,  having 
remained  on  shore  owing  to  indisposition.  On  hear 
ing  the  story  of  Lieutenant  Lynch,  there  was  at 
once  revealed  to  him  the  addition  that  steam  had 
made  to  the  number  and  variety  of  implements  of 
destruction.  The  old  trireme's  beak  was  to  reappear 
on  the  modern  steam  war  vessel  and  create  a  double 
revolution  in  naval  warfare.  The  boiler,  paddle  and 
screw  had  more  than  replaced  the  war  galley's  banks 
of  oars,  by  furnishing  a  motive  power  that  hereafter 
should  not  only  sink  the  enemy  by  ramming,  but 
should  change  the  naval  order  of  battle.  The 
broadside  to  broadside  lines  of  evolution  must  give 
way  to  fighting  "prow  on."  In  a  word,  he  saw  the 
ram. 

Perry  required  written  reports  of  the  affair  from 
his  lieutenants,  and  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  suggesting  the  possibilities  of  the  rostral 
prow. 

To  think  of  the  new  weapon  was  to  wish  to  demon 
strate  its  power.  He  proposed  to  try  the  Fulton 
again,  purposely,  upon  a  hulk,  to  satisfy  himself  as 
to  the  sinking  power  of  the  steamer.  He  arranged 


122  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

to  do  this  by  special  staying  of  the  boiler  pipes  and 
chimneys,  so  that  no  damage  from  the  shock  would 
result.  He  was  also  prepared,  by  exact  mathemati 
cal  computation  of  mass,  velocity  and  friction,  with 
careful  observations  of  wind  and  tide,  to  express  the 
results  with  scientific  accuracy. 

The  report  duly  was  received  at  Washington  and,, 
instead  of  being  acted  upon,  was  pigeon-holed. 
Perry  was  unable,  at  private  expense,  to  follow  up 
the  idea,  but  thought  much  of  it  at  the  time,  and  the 
subject,  though  not  officially  noticed,  remained  in 
his  mind. 

After  the  Mexican  War,  having  leisure,  he  wrote 
the  following  letter:  — 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Nov.  n,   1850. 

SIR,  —  Since  the  introduction  of  steamers  of  war  into 
the  navies  of  the  world,  I  have  frequently  thought  that  a 
most  effectual  mode  of  attack  might  be  brought  into  oper 
ation  by  using  a  steamer  as  a  striking  body,  and  precipi 
tating  her  with  all  her  power  of  motion  and  weight  upon 
some  weak  point  of  a  vessel  of  the  enemy  moved  only  by 
sails,  and,  seizing  upon  a  moment  of  calm,  or  when  the 
sail  vessel  is  motionless  or  moving  slowly  through  the 
water. 

I  had  always  determined  to  try  this  experiment,  should 
opportunity  afford,  and  actually  made  preparations  for 
securing  the  boilers  and  steam  pipes  of  the  Fulton  at  New 
York,  when  I  thought  it  probable  I  might  be  sent  in  her 
to  our  eastern  border  ports  at  the  time  of  the  expected 


PERRY    DISCOVERS    THE    RAM.  123 

rupture  with  Great  Britain  upon  the  North  Eastern  Bound 
ary  question. 

Experience  has  shown  that  a  vessel  moving  rapidly 
through  the  water,  and  striking  with  her  stem  another  mo 
tionless,  or  passing  in  a  transverse  direction,  invariably 
destroys  or  seriously  injures  the  vessel  stricken  without 
material  damage  to  the  assailant.  Imagine  for  example 
the  steamer  Mississippi  under  full  steam  and  moving  at 
the  moderate  rate  of  12  statute  miles  per  hour,  her  weight 
considered  as  a  projectile  being  estimated  as  2.500  tons, 
the  minimum  calculation,  and  multiplying  this  weight  by 
her  velocity,  say  17  1-2  feet  per  second,  the  power  and 
weight  of  momentum  would  be  a  little  short  of  44,000  tons, 
and  the  effect  of  collision  upon  the  vessel  attacked, 
whatever  may  be  her  size,  inevitably  overwhelming. 

It  may  be  urged  that  the  momentum  estimated  by  the 
above  figures  may  not  be  as  effective  as  the  rule  indicates, 
yet  it  cannot  be  maintained  that  there  would  not  be 
sufficient  force  for  all  the  purposes  desired. 

I  have  looked  well  into  the  practicability  of  this  mode  of 
attack,  and  am  fully  satisfied  that  if  managed  with  deci 
sion  and  coolness,  it  will  unquestionably  succeed  and 
without  immediate  injury  to  the  attacking  vessel.  Much 
would  of  course  depend  on  the  determination  and  skill  of 
the  commander,  and  the  self-possession  of  the  engineers 
at  the  starting  bars,  in  reversing  the  motion  of  the  engines 
at  the  moment  of  collision ;  but  coolness  under  dangers 
of  accident  from  the  engines  or  boilers,  is  considered,  by 
well  trained  engineers,  a  point  of  honor,  and  I  feel  well 
assured  there  would  be  no  want  of  conduct  or  bearing  in 
either  those  or  the  other  officers  of  the  ship. 

The  preparations  for  guarding   the    attacking  steamer 


124  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

against  material  damage  would  be  to  secure  the  boilers 
more  firmly  in  their  beds,  to  prepare  the  steam  pipes  ani 
connections  so  as  to  prevent  the  separation  of  their  joints, 
to  render  firm  the  smoke-stack  by  additional  guys  ani 
braces,  to  strip  off  the  lower  masts  and  to  remove  the 
bowsprit.  All  these  arrangements  could  be  made  in  little 
time  and  without  much  inconvenience. 

It  would  be  desirable  that  the  bowsprit  should  be  s> 
fitted  as  to  be  easily  reefed  or  removed,  but  in  times  cf 
em6rgency,  this  spar  should  not  for  a  moment  be  coi  - 
sidered  as  interposing  an  obstacle  to  the  contemplated 
collision. 

It  will  be  said,  and  I  am  free  to  admit,  that  much  ris ; 
would  be  encountered  by  the  steamer  from  the  guns  cf 
the  vessel  assailed,  say  of  a  line-of-battle  ship  or  frigate, 
but  considering  the  short  time  she  would  be  under  fire, 
her  facilities  for  advance  and  retreat,  of  choice  of  position 
and  of  the  effect  of  her  own  heavy  guns  upon  the  least 
defensible  point  of  the  enemy's  ship  on  which  she  would 
of  course  advance,  the  disparity  of  armaments  should  no: 
be  taken  into  view. 

I  claim  no  credit  for  the  originality  of  this  suggestion, 
well  knowing  that  the  ancients  in  their  sea  rights  dashed 
their  sea-galleys  with  great  force  one  upon  the  other,  nor 
am  I  ignorant  of  the  plan  of  a  steam  prow  suggested 
some  years  ago  by  Commodore  Barren.*  My  proposition 


*  Commodore  James  Barren's  model  of  his  "prow-ship"  w as- 
exhibited  in  the  rotunda  of  the  capitol  in  Washington  in  1836. 
As  described  by  him  in  the  Patent  Office  reports,  it  was  a  mere 
mass  of  logs,  white  pine,  poplar,  or  gum-tree  wood.  Perry 
meant  to  use  a  real  ship  always  available  for  ramming. 


PERRY    DISCOVERS    THE    RAM. 

is  simply  the  renewal  of  an  ancient  practice  by  the  appli 
cation  of  the  power  unknown  in  early  times,  and,  as  many 
believe,  in  the  beginning  of  its  usefulness. 

With  great  respect,  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

M.  C.  PERRY. 
THE  HON.  WM.  A.  GRAHAM, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Twenty  years  later  in  the  river  of  her  own  name, 
the  war-steamer  Mississippi  became  a  formidable  ram,, 
though  before  this  time  in  1859,  the  French  iron 
clad,  La  Gloire  had  been  launched.  It  had  been 
said  of  the  British  Admiral,  Sir  George  Sartorius, 
that  "He  was  one  of  the  first  to  form,  in  1855,  the 
revolution  in  naval  warfare,  by  the  renewal  of  the 
ancient  mode  of  striking  an  adversary  with  the  prow." 
It  will  be  seen  that  Perry  anticipated  the  Europeans 
and  taught  the  Americans. 

Other  points  in  this  letter  of  Perry's  are  of  interest 
at  this  time.  First,  last,  and  always,  Perry  honored 
the  engineer  and  believed  in  his  equal  possession, 
with  the  line  officers,  of  all  the  soldierly  virtues,  not 
withstanding  that  the  man  at  the  lever,  out  of  sight 
of  the  enemy,  must  needs  lack  the  thrilling  excite 
ment  of  the  officers  on  deck.  He  felt  that  courage 
in  the  engine-room  had  even  a  finer  moral  strain  than 
the  more  physically  exciting  passions  of  the  deck. 

We  may  here  note  that  Perry  really  had  part  in 
the  naval  victories  of  our  civil  war.  The  method 


126  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

of  ramming  action,  as  used  by  Farragut  in  his 
brilliant  victories  of  wooden  steamers  over  Confed 
erate  iron-clads,  was  that  out-lined  by  Perry  years 
before. 

Perry  also  made  a  thorough  study,  so  far  as  it  WAS 
then  possible,  of  the  problems  of  resistance  and 
penetration,  of  rifled  cannon  and  of  iron-clad  armcr. 

He  was  for  years  on  the  board  of  officers  appointed 
to  report  upon  the  Stevens  floating  battery  it 
Hoboken.  Until  his  death,  he  was  familiar  with  the 
whole  question,  and  believed  in  the  early  adoption  of 
both  rifles  and  armor  on  ships.  Prior  to  the  Mexican 
War  he  thought  the  right  course  was  to  develop  to 
the  highest  stage  of  efficiency  the  ram  and  the 
smooth  bore  shell  gun.  It  turned  out  that  in  the 
war  for  the  Union  in  1861,  most  of  the  naval  officers 
associated  with  him  and  who  shared  his  ideas  were 
•on  the  Confederate  side.  Hence  the  Southerners 
were  in  a  much  better  state  of  advanced  naval 
science  than  the  Northerners.  Even  the  ]\Ionitor 
was  the  fruit  of  a  private  inventor,  and  not  of  a 
naval  officer.  The  first  appearance  of  an  iron  coat  on 
an  American  war  vessel,  and  the  first  ram  effec 
tively  used  in  war  were  upon  the  Confederate 
steamer  Virginia  (the  old  Merrimac]  which  was  the 
idea  and  application  of  T.  Ap.  Catesby  Jones  ;  while 
the  Tcnnesee  in  Mobile  Bay  was  wholly  the  creation 
of  Franklin  Buchanan.  Both  of  these  gentlemen 
were  life-long  friends,  and  subordinate  officers,  who 
were  also  familiar  with  the  problem  of  ramming,  and 


PERRY    DISCOVERS    THE    RAM.  \2J 

enjoyed  Perry's  confidence  and  ideas.  For  the 
methods  .of  the  Merrimac  in  her  devastation  of  the 
Federal  fleet  at  Hampton  Roads,  the  epistle  of  Perry 
might  seem  almost  a  letter  of  instruction. 

Had  good  machinists  and  founderies  existed  in  the 
South,  in  number  proportionate  to  that  of  Confed 
erate  naval  officers,  the  story  of  Mobile  Bay  and  the 
Mississippi  river  might  have  been  different.  With 
no  lack  of  courage  or  skill  in  the  northern  sailors 
and  their  leaders,  their  greatest  ally  lay  in  the  poor 
machinery  of  the  Confederate  iron-clads.  These 
were  true  testudos  in  armor,  but  fortunately  for  the 
Union  cause  they  were  tortoises  in  speed  also.  Or,  to 
change  the  metaphor,  though  meant  to  act  as  sword- 
fish,  they  behaved  as  sluggishly  as  whales.  They 
fell  a  prey  even  to  wooden  vessels  able  to  obey  their 
helms  but  moving  rapidly  with  sinking  force. 

With  the  old  system  of  tactics  under  sail,  no 
ramming  was  possible,  as  the  vessel  under  propulsion 
would  expose  herself  to  a  raking  fire  while  slowly 
working  up  to  position.  Gunpowder  rendered  ob 
solete  the  trireme  ram.  Steam,  by  its  gigantic 
propelling  force,  had  now  in  turn  overcome  gun 
powder. 

The  model  of  the  machine-ram,  made  by  Captain 
Samuel  Barren  in  1827,  and  referred  to  by  Captain 
Perry  is  now  at  Annapolis  Naval  Academy.  So  far 
as  we  can  gather,  Perry  had  not  seen  this  at  the 
time  of  his  first  writing  of  the  ram  in  1839.  His 
valuable  paper  was  duly  read,  laid  aside  and  bound 


128  MATTHEW     CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

up  with  other  "Captains  Letters"  in  1839  and 
forgotten.  When  in  1861,  the  Mcrrimac,  steaming 
out  from  Norfolk,  by  one  thrust  of  her  iron  snout 
turned  the  grand  old  wooden  frigate,  Cumberland, 
into  a  sunken  hulk,  she  revealed  the  powers  of  the 
ram  to  the  whole  world.  The  curtain  then  fell  on 
the  age  of  wood  and  ushered  in  the  age  of  iron. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

LIGHTHOUSE  ILLUMINATION,  LENSES  OR  REFLECTORS  ? 

THE  water-ways  leading  to  New  York  are  such  as 
to  make  Manhattan  Island  unique  in  its  advantages 
for  commerce.  Already  the  metropolis  of  the  conti 
nent,  it  is  yet  to  be  the  commercial  centre  of  the 
world.  Until  1837  these  highways  of  sea,  river,  and 
bay  were  greatly  neglected,  and  on  all  except  moon 
light  nights,  vessels  had  great  difficulty  in  approach 
ing  the  city.  Raritan  and  Newark  bays  were  sa 
destitute  of  buoys  and  beacons,  that  pilots  charged 
double  rates  for  navigating  ships  in  them,  rocks  lit 
tered  their  channels,  and  the  benighted  New  Jersey 
coast  was  jeeringly  said  to  be  "outside  of  the  United 
States."  During  the  summer  of  1837,  Captains 
Kearney,  Sloat,  and  Perry  made  a  study  of  the  water 
approaches  to  New  York,  the  latter  concerning  him 
self  with  the  Jersey  side.  His  report,  written  at 
Perth  Amboy,  December  9,  1837,  was  made  such 
good  use  of  in  Congress  by  Senator  G.  D.  Wall,  that 
a  bill  for  the  creation  of  light-houses  was  passed,  and 
Captain  Perry  was  ordered  to  Europe  for  further 
study. 

Embarking  on  the  steamer  Great  Western  on  her 
second  round  trip,  June  27,  1838,  Perry  crossed  the 


13O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

ocean  when  such  a  voyage  was  a  novelty.  The  pas 
sage  occupied  twelve  and  a  half  days,  during  which  a 
constant  study  of  the  engines  and  their  behavior,  and 
of  wages  and  fuel  satisfied  him  that  steam  could  be 
applied  to  war  vessels  with  safety  and  economy. 
This  was  in  1838,  yet  even  as  late  as  1861,  there  were 
American  naval  officers  more  afraid  of  the  boilers 
under  their  feet,  than  of  the  enemy's  guns  ;  and  many 
old  sea-dogs  still  believed  in  the  general  efficiency  of 
sailing  frigates  over  steamers. 

Arriving  at  Bristol  his  first  business  was  to  visit 
the  lighthouses  of  the  United  Kingdom,  after  which 
he  returned  to  London.  In  the  foundries  and  ship 
yards  he  acquainted  himself  with  engineers  and  man 
ufacturers.  He  found  a  ferment  of  ideas.  A  real 
revolution  in  naval  science  was  in  progress.  The 
British  government  was  ambitious  to  have  the  largest 
steamer  force  in  the  world  ready  for  sudden  hostilities 
so  as  to  possess  an  over-whelming  advantage.  So 
much  encouragement  was  given  by  the  admiralty, 
that  nearly  every  mechanic  in  the  kingdom,  as  it 
seemed,  was  eager  to  invent,  improve  or  discover  new 
steps  to  perfection.  Especial  attention  was  given  to 
the  problem  of  the  economy  of  fuel.  Vessels  wholly 
built  of  iron  were  beginning  to  be  common.  These, 
as  Perry  predicted,  were  ultimately  to  have  the 
preference  for  peaceful  purposes,  but  their  fitness  as 
war  vessels  was  still  uncertain.  Two  were  then 
building  for  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  The  first  pad 
dle-wheel  steamers,  Penelope,  Terrible,  and  Valorous, 


LIGHTHOUSE    ILLUMINATION.  13! 

were  afloat  or  building.  The  era  of  steam  appliances 
as  a  substitute  for  manual  labor  aboard  ships  was 
being  ushered  in. 

It  is  now  seen  that  the  immediate  fruit  of  this 
possession,  by  the  British  government,  of  steam  both 
as  a  motor  and  a  substitute  for  manual  labor  on  ship 
board,  was  the  growth  of  an  imperial  policy  of  exten 
sive  colonial  dependencies  and  possessions  for  which 
the  Victorian  era  will  ever  be  conspicious  in  history. 
The  British  Empire  could  never  have  become  the 
mighty  agglomeration  which  it  now  is,  except  through 
the  agency  of  steam.  The  new  force  was  not  an 
olive  branch,  nor  calculated  to  keep  the  battle  flags 
furled  ;  for  already,  the  first  of  the  twenty-five  wars 
which  the  Victorian  era  has  thus  far  seen  had  begun. 

At  the  time  of  Perry's  visit,  however,  Britain's 
exclusive  domain  seemed  threatened  by  France.  The 
spirit  of  invention  and  improvement,  encouraged  by 
Louis  Philippe,  was  abroad  in  "la  belle  France." 
Already  nine  war  steamers  afloat,  with  more  planned 
on  paper,  the  beginning  of  a  respectable  sea-force, 
were  within  two  hours  of  England.  A  vigorous 
naval  policy  was  in  popular  favor  and  the  Prince  de 
Joinville,  in  command  of  a  corvette,  the  Creole,  was 
beginning  to  express  views  which  alarmed  the  Ad 
miralty.  The  brilliant  successes  of  the  French  in 
Mexican  waters,  the  capture  of  the  castle  of  St.  Juan 
d'Ulloa  after  six  hours  bombardment,  in  which  the 
terrific  power  of  shells  had  been  demonstrated,  en 
couraged  them  to  believe  that  their  rivalry  with 


132  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

England  on  the  ocean  was  again  possible.  The 
undisputed  supremacy  of  the  British  on  the  seas  since 
Trafalgar,  had,  except  from  1812  to  1815,  remained 
unbroken  because  the  only  large  navy  left  in  Europe 
was  British.  France,  now  recovering  from  the  long 
impoverishment  inflicted  upon  her  by  the  wars  of 
Napoleon,  was  investing  her  money  largely  in  steam 
war-vessels  of  the  finest  type.  Fortunately  for  her, 
the  revival  of  her  financial  fortunes  co-incided  with 
the  era  of  steam,  and  every  franc  applied  to  naval 
uses  was  expended  on  first-class  vessels  equal  to  any 
on  the  seas.  On  the  contrary,  many  of  the  British 
fleet  were  sailing  vessels.  Furthermore,  the  science 
of  artillery  was  undergoing  a  revolution,  and  France 
led  the  way  in  ordnance  as  well  as  in  ships.  Such 
an  unexpected  development  of  energy  and  wisdom 
in  her  rival  startled  the  English  naval  mind  as  it 
afterward  aroused  the  British  public. 

The  carronades  or  ''smashers"  of  the  sailors,  had 
had  their  day  and  their  glory  was  already  passing 
away.  The  Paixhans  gun,  or  chambered  ordnance 
capable  of  horizontal  shell-firing,  was  now  to  super 
sede  them.  Fully  alive  to  the  needs  of  the  times, 
the  British  government  had  three  war  steamers 
equipped,  five  were  in  course  of  construction,  and  the 
keels  of  six  others  were  soon  to  be  laid.  These  were 
to  be  of  from  eight  hundred  to  twelve  hundred  tons^ 
and  to  mount  heavy  shell  guns  at  each  end  and  in 
broadside.  Even  then,  they  had  but  fourteen  against 
the  nineteen  steamers  of  France  and  hence  the  fever 
ish  desire  for  more. 


LIGHTHOUSE   ILLUMINATION.  133 

Perry's  visit  to  Europe  was  exceedingly  well-timed 
to  secure  the  largest  results,  for  a  revolution  in  opti 
cal  science  and  applied  methods  of  illumination,  as 
well  as  in  ships  and  guns,  was  at  hand.  Science  and 
invention  were  to  do  much  for  the  saving  of  human 
life  as  well  as  for  its  destruction.  The  balances  of 
Providence  were  to  settle  to  a  new  equilibrium. 

Crossing  the  channel,  he  visited  Cherbourg  and 
Brest,  there  finding  the  same  courtesy  and  cordial 
reply  to  his  questions.  In  Paris  he  came  in  contact 
with  a  number  of  distinguished  scientific  men.  He 
was  especially  well  assisted  by  the  United  States 
Agent,  Mr.  Eugene  A.  Vail.  The  illustrious  Angus- 
tin  Fresnel  who  had  said  in  a  letter  to  a  friend, 
December  14,  1814,  that  he  did  not  know  what  the 
phrase  "the  polarization  of  light  meant,"  was  in  1819 
crowned  by  the  French  Academy  of  Science  as  the 
first  authority  in  optics.  He  had  demonstrated  to 
his  countrymen  the  error  of  the  old  theory  of  the 
transmission  of  light  by  the  emission  of  material 
particles.  This  he  had  achieved  by  the  study  of 
polarization.  The  practical  application  of  his  re 
searches  to  the  apparatus  of  lighthouses  struck  a 
death-blow  to  the  old  system  of  coast  illumination. 

Among  other  pleasant  experiences  in  the  French 
capital,  was  a  second  visit  to  King  Louis  Philippe. 
Invited  by  His  Majesty  to  an  informal  supper,  at 
which  the  royal  family  were  present,  Captain  Perry 
took  his  seat  at  their  table  as  a  guest  feeling  more 
honored  by  this  private  confidence  than  if  at  a  state 


134  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

dinner.  At  the  table  sat  the  King's  wife  and  child 
ren,  tea  being  poured  by  the  Queen  herself.  At  this 
time,  the  Due  d'  Orleans,  son  of  the  King,  was  rejoic 
ing  over  the  recent  birth  of  a  son.  His  name  was 
Louis  Albert  Philippe  d'  Orleans,  Comte  de  Paris. 
He  afterwards  served  in  the  Union  armies  during 

o 

our  civil  war  of  1861-65,  and  is  the  accomplished 
author  of  the  best  general  history  of  that  series  of 
events  yet  published,  Historic  de  la  Guerre  Civile  en 
Amerique.  At  this  time,  November  1838,  the  infant 
boy  was  not  quite  three  months  old,  and  the  talk  and 
thoughts  of  the  royal  family  were  centered  on  him. 
Leaving  Portsmouth  December  10,  by  sailing 
packet,  Perry  arrived  in  New  York,  January  14,  1839. 
After  a  few  days  spent  at  home  he  went  to  Washing 
ton  to  deliver  up  his  rich  spoil  of  contemporaneous 
science,  and  his  own  elaborate  reports,  criticisms, 
and  suggestions.  His  face  was  flushed  with  the  irre 
sistible  enthusiasm  of  new  ideas.  And  his  thought 
was  in  the  direction  of  the  future.  The  wires  of  a 
magnetic  telegraph  had  been  strung  across  the  cam 
pus  of  Princeton  college,  four  years  before  this,  by 
Professor  Joseph  Henry.  Out  of  the  discoveries  of 
Faraday  and  Henry,  brilliant  results  had  sprung,  of 
which  application  to  the  arts  of  war  and  peace  was 
already  being  made.  Both  as  a  naval  officer  and  as  a 
lover  of  science,  Perry  rejoiced  to  see 

"  Undreamed-of  sciences  from  year  to  year 
Upon  dim  shores  of  unexplored  Night 
Their  steady  beacons  kindle." 


LIGHTHOUSE    ILLUMINATION.  135 

He  now  bent  his  energies  to  bring  before  Congress 
the  condition  and  needs  of  our  lighthouse  system. 
He  wrote  a  vigorous  and  detailed  letter  exposing  the 
abuses  and  the  schemes  of  the  ignorant  set  of  plun 
derers  who  were  opposing  improvement.  He  proved 
that  often  important  lighthouses  were  left  for  days  in 
charge  of  wholly  incompetent  persons.  Hence  there 
was  waste,  robbery,  and  inefficency,  while  a  powerful 
combination  held  the  system  in  its  coils.  "The 
Light-house  Ring "  was  then  as  strong  as  that  of 
"The  Indian  Ring"  of  later  years.  Further,  the 
battle  was  one  of  science  and  new  ideas  against  ignor 
ance  and  ultra-conservative  old  fogyism.  The  lenses 
were  struggling  against  the  reflectors.  The  latter 
were  the  outcome  of  the  emission  theory  of  the  pro 
pagation  of  light.  The  Lenticular  method  was  based 
on  the  undulatory  theory.  Ignorance  and  avarice 
long  held  the  field,  but  under  the  hammer-like  facts 
and  arguments  of  Perry,  and  those  who  thought  with 
him,  both  were  routed,  and  the  present  grand  system 
is  the  final  result.  Our  lighthouse  establishment  is- 
not  a  creation,  it  is  a  growth. 

At  the  Centennial  Exposition  at  Philadelphia  in 
1876,  the  exhibit  made  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States  was  under  the  charge  of  Rear  Admiral 
Thornton  A.  Jenkins,  one  of  Perry's  pupils  and 
friends.  The  triumphs  of  a  half  century  in  the  illumi 
nating  art  were  manifest.  Progress  had  at  first  crept 
by  slow  steps,  from  rude  beacons  of  wood  or  coal  fires 
on  headlands,  to  oil  lamps  with  flat  wicks  and  spheri- 


136  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY, 

•cal  reflectors,  to  paraboloid  mirrors  and  argand 
burners,  to  eclipse  revolving  or  flashing  lights.  Th> 
katoptric  system  of  Teulere,  based  on  the  reflection 
of  light  by  metallic  surfaces  was  introduced  about 
1790,  and  soon  came  in  vogue  among  most  civilized 
nations.  It  was  costly  and  expensive,  since  half  th^ 
rays  of  light  were  lost  by  absorption  in  the  mirror 
even  when  new  and  perfectly  polished  ;  while  the  loss 
was  far  more  when  the  mirror  was  old,  unclean,  or  i  i 
•constant  use.  Yet  despite,  its  many  defects,  it  was 
the  best  of  its  kind  known  until  Fresnel's  brilliant 
discoveries  based  on  the  principle  of  a  burning-glass 
or  convex  lens  refraction.  After  a  struggle,  the 
dioptric  conquered  the  katoptric,  and  lenses  rule 
the  coast. 

It  was  to  introduce  the  dioptric  system  that  Perry 
now  earnestly  labored.  The  influence  of  his  argu 
ments  in  Congress  was  powerful,  and  from  this  time 
the  lenticular  method  prevailed,  and  the  system  of 
lighthouses  on  all  our  coasts  was  extended.  From 

o 

the  first  lighthouse  built  by  the  general  government 
in  1791  at  Cape  Henry,  the  number  had  increased  to 
seven  in  1800.  In  1838  there  were  but  sixteen.  The 
number  now  is  not  far  from  250. 

No  less  an  authority  than  Rear  Admiral  Thorn 
ton  A.  Jenkins,  who,  besides  being  the  Naval  Secrt  - 
tary  of  the  Light-House  Board  from  1869  to  1871, 
framed  the  organic  law  under  which  the  present  effi 
cient  Light-House  Board  was  established  in  1852, 
rsays  that  ''Through  Perry's  influence  the  first  real 


LIGHTHOUSE   ILLUMINATION.  137 

step  was  taken  towards  the  present  good  system." 
The  light  on  the  Neversink  Highlands  which  the 
voyager  to  Europe  sees,  as  the  last  sign  of  native 
land  as  it  sinks  below  the  horizon  is  one  of  the  first, 
as  it  was  the  direct,  fruits  of  Perry's  mission. 

In  an  excellent  article  on  this  subject  in  the  Am 
erican  Whig  Review,  March  1845,  tne  same  which 
contained  Poe's  "  Raven,"  the  writer,  after  com 
mending  Perry's  work  and  expatiating  on  the  excel 
lence  of  the  Fresnel  light,  pleads  for  the  union  of 
science  and  experience,  and  more  administrative 
method  for  this  branch  on  the  efficacy  and  perfection 
of  which  depend,  not  only  the  wealth  with  which  our 
ships  are  freighted,  but  the  lives  of  thousands  who 
follow  the  sea. 

When,  in  1852,  Perry  lived  to  see  his  efforts 
crowned  with  success,  and  Congress  finally  organized 
the  Light-House  Board,  Jenkins  wished  Perry  to 
take  the  presidency  of  the  Board  ;  but  other  matters 
were  pressing,  Japan  was  looming  up,  and  he 
declined. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

REVOLUTIONS  IN  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE. 

ON  his  return  from  Europe,  in  1839,  Captain  Perry 
purchased  a  plot  of  land  near  Tarry  town,  New  York. 
He  built  a  stone  cottage,  to  which  he  gave  the  appro 
priate  name  of  "The  Moorings."  The  farm  com 
prised  about  1 20  acres;  and,  needing  much  improve 
ment,  he  set  about  utilizing  his  few  leisure  hours 
with  a  view  to  its  transformation.  Revelling  in  the 
exercise  of  tireless  energy,  he  set  out  trees  and 
planted  a  garden. 

To  get  time  for  his  beloved  tasks  he  rose  early  in 
the  morning,  and  long  before  breakfast  had  accom 
plished  yeoman's  toil.  If  no  nobler  work  presented 
itself,  this  man  of  steam  and  ordnance  weeded  straw 
berry  beds.  In  due  time  this  Jason  sowing  his  pecks, 
not  of  dragon's  teeth,  but  of  approved  peas  and  beans, 
rejoiced  in  a  golden  fleece  and  real  horn  of  plenty  in 
the  darling  garden  which  produced  twelve  manner  of 
vegetables. 

At  "  Moorings "  Perry  was  surrounded  by  most 
pleasant  neighbors  and  a  literary  atmosphere  which 
stimulated  his  own  pen  to  activity  during  the  winter, 
when  long  evenings  allured  to  fireside  enjoyments  or 
studious  labor. 


REVOLUTIONS  IN  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE.    139 

About  this  time,  Lieutenant  Alexander  Slidell  Mac- 
Kenzie,  impelled  by  a  request  of  the  dead  hero's  son, 
and  irritated  at  the  criticisms  of  J.  Fenimore  Cooper, 
began  his  life  of  Oliver  Hazard  Perry.  In  this  he 
was  assisted  somewhat  by  Captain  Perry,  who  corres 
ponded  with  General  Harrison  and  other  eye-wit 
nesses  of  the  Lake  Erie  campaign  of  1814.  Among 
Perry's  papers,  are  several  autograph  letters  in  the 
cramped  handwriting  of  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe. 
Although  admiring  Harrison  as  a  military  man,  and 
highly  amused  at  the  popularity  and  oddities  of  his 
hard  cider  and  log  cabin  campaign,  Perry  voted,  as 
was  his  wont,  the  Democratic  ticket. 

Another  neighbor  was  Washington  Irving,  the 
great  caricaturist  of  the  Hollanders  in  America,  who 
dwelt  in  the  many  gabled  and  weather-vanedWoolfert's 
Roost.  This  quaint  old  domicile  which  Woolfert 
the  Dutchman  built  to  find  lust  in  rust  (pleasure  in 
rest),  crowned  a  hill  over-looking  the  Tappan  Zee,  in 
the  south  of  Tarrytown,  while  the  "  Moorings  "  was 
in  the  northern  part  towards  Sing  Sing.  Perry 
maintained  with  Irving  a  warm  friendship  to  the  last. 
He  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  genial  bachelor 
author  of  Sunnyside,  and  like  him  was  a  devoted 
reader  of  Addison.  A  humbler  but  highly  appre 
ciated  neighbor  was  Captain  Jacob  Storm,  who  owned 
the  sloop  William  A.  Hart,  on  which  both  Irving 
and  Perry  often  sailed  up  from  New  York.  Storm 
was  a  genial  and  unique  character,  famous  until 
his  death  in  1883,  alike  for  his  mother- wit  and  devo 
tional  spirit. 


I4O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

James  Watson  Webb,  then  the  Hotspur,  and  after 
wards  the  Nestor,  of  the  press  was  a  genial  neighbor 
and  life-long  friend. 

The  changes  in  naval  construction  required  by  the 
necessities  of  war,  have  been  many.  The  history  of 
ship  building  is  literally  one  of  ups  and  downs. 
Three  great  revolutions,  of  the  oar,  the  sail,  and  the 
boiler,  have  compelled  the  changes.  The  anciert 
sea-boats  grew  into  high  decked  triremes  with  many 
banks  of  oars,  and  these  again  to  the  low  galleys  of 
the  Vikings  and  Berbers.  The  sides  of  these,  in  turn, 
were  elevated  until  cumbersome  vessels  with  lofty 
prow,  many-storied  and  tower-like  stern,  and  enormous 
top-hamper  sailed  the  seas.  Again,  the  ship  of  the 
Tudor  era  was  only,  by  slow  processes,  cut  down  to 
the  trim  hulls  of  Nelson's  line-of-battle  ships. 

In  the  clean  lines  of  the  American  frigate,  the 
naval  men  of  our  century  saw,  as  they  believed,  the 
acme  of  perfection.  They  considered  that  no  revolu 
tion  in  the  science  of  war  could  seriously  affect  their 
shape.  Down  to  1862,  this  was  the  unshakeable 
creed  of  the  average  sailor.  Naval  orthodoxy  is  as 
tough  in  its  conservatism,  as  is  that  of  ecclesiastical 
or  legal  strain. 

Yet  both  Redfield  and  Perry  as  early  as  1835, 
clearly  foresaw  that  the  old  models  were  doomed  ; 
the  many-banked  ships  must  be  razed,  and  the  target 
surface  be  reduced.  Steam  and  shells  had  wrought  a 
revolution  that  was  to  bring  the  upper  deck  not  far 
from  the  water,  and  ultimately  rob  the  war-ship  of 


REVOLUTIONS  IN  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE.    14! 

sails  and  prow.  The  next  problem,  between  resis 
tance  and  penetration,  was  to  make  the  top  and  bot 
tom  of  ships  much  alike,  and  to  put  the  greater 
portion  of  a  war-vessel  under  water.  It  is  scarcely 
probable,  however,  that  either  of  them  believed  that 
the  reduction  of  steam  battery  should  proceed  so- 
near  the  vanishing  point,  as  in  the  Monitor,  to  be  de 
scribed  as  "  a  cheese-box  on  a  raft  "or  "  a  tomato-can 
on  a  shingle." 

The  first  idea  concerning  "steam  batteries"  as 
they  were  called,  was  that  they  were  not  to  have  an 
individuality  of  their  own  as  battle  ships,  but  were  to- 
be  subordinate  to  the  stately  old  sailing  frigates. 
They  were  expected  to  be  tenders  to  tow  the  heavy 
battering  ships  into  action,  or  to  act  as  despatch 
boats  and  light  cruisers.  They  were  conceived  to  be 
the  cavalry  of  the  navy  ;  ships  mounted,  as  it  were. 
Redfield  and  Perry,  on  the  other  hand,  laid  claim  for 
them  to  the  higher  characteristics  of  cavalry  and 
artillery  united  in  a  single  arm  of  the  service. 

The  first  English  steamers  were  exceedingly  cum 
brous  and  unnecessarily  heavy.  It  was,  with  their 
ships,  as  with  their  wagons,  or  axe-handles.  The 
British,  ignorant  of  the  virtues  of  American  hickory, 
knew  not  how  to  combine  lightness  with  strength. 
Redfield  proposed  to  apply  the  Yankee  jack-knife  and 
whittle  away  all  superfluous  timber.  Denying  that 
the  British  type  was  the  fastest  or  the  best,  he  plead 
earnestly  that  our  naval  men  should  discard  trans 
atlantic  models,  and  create  an  American  type.  Re- 


142  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

gretting  that  our  government  and  naval  men  held  aloo: 
from  the  use  of  steam  as  a  motor  in  war,  he  yet  demon 
strated  that  even  a  clumsy  steamer,  like  the  Nemesis. 
had  proved  herself  equal  to  two  line-of-battle  ships 
He  prophesied  the  speedy  disappearance  from  the  seas 
of  the  old  double  and  trebled-banked  vessels  then  so 
proudly  floating  their  pennants.  Redfield  writing  to 
Perry  as  a  man  of  liberal  ideas,  said  "  Opinions  will  be 
received  with  that  spirit  of  candor  and  kindness  which 
has  so  uniformly  been  manifested  in  your  personal 
intercourse  with  your  fellow-citizens."  The  confi 
dence  of  this  eminent  man  of  science  and  practica 
skill  in  the  naval  officer  was  fully  justified. 

One  thing  which  occupied  Perry's  thoughts  for  ^ 
number  of  years  was  the  question  of  defending  our 
Atlantic  harbors  from  sudden  attacks  of  a  foreign 
enemy.  Steam  had  altered  the  old  time  relations  of 
belligerents.  He  saw  the  modern  system  of  carrying 
on  war  was  to  make  it  sudden,  sharp  and  decisive, 
and  then  compel  the  beaten  party  to  pay  the  expenses. 
A  few  hostile  steamers  from  England  could  devastate 
our  ports  almost  before  we  knew  of  a  declaration  of 
war.  While  England  was  always  in  readiness  to  do 
this,  there  was  not  one  American  sea-going  war 
steamer  with  heavy  ordnance  ready  to  meet  her  swift 
and  heavily  armed  cruisers,  while  river  boats  would 
be  useless  before  the  heavy  shell  of  the  enemy.  He 
did  not  share  the  ideas  of  security  possessed  by  the 
average  fresh-water  congressman.  The  spirit  of  1812 
was  not  dead,  in  him,  but  he  knew  that  the  brilliant 


REVOLUTIONS  IN  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE.     143 

naval  duels  of  Hull  and  Decatur's  time  decided 
rather  the  spirit  of  our  sailors  than  the  naval  ability 
of  the  United  States. 

He  proposed  a  method  for  extemporizing  steam 
batteries  by  mounting  heavy  guns  on  hulks  of  dis 
mantled  merchant  vessels.  These  were  to  be  moved 
by  a  steamer  in  the  center  of  the  gang,  holding  by 
chains,  and  able  to  make  ten  knots  an  hour.  If  one 
hulk  were  disabled,  it  could  be  easily  separated  from 
the  others.  Such  a  battery  could  be  made  ready  in 
ten  days  and  fought  without  sailors.  The  engines 
could  be  covered  with  bales  of  cotton  or  hay  made 
fire-proof  with  soap-stone  paint. 

With  the  aid  of  his  friend  W.  C.  Redfield,  he  col 
lected  statistics  of  all  the  privately-owned  steamers 
in  the  United  States  with  their  cost,  dimensions  and 
consumption  of  fuel,  showing  their  possible  power  of 
conversion  for  war  purposes.  Encouraged  by  Perry, 
Mr.  Redfield  treated  the  whole  question  of  naval 
offence  and  defence  in  a  series  of  letters  on  "  The 
Means  of  National  Defence."  These  were  printed  in 
the  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce  during  the  sum 
mer  of  1841,  and  afterwards  reprinted  in  \hzjournal 
of  the  Franklin  Institute  in  Philadelphia.  His  note 
books  with  illustrations,  diagrams  and  pen-sketches 
show  that  his  coming  ideal  war-ship  was  like  the 
Lackazvanna  of  our  civil-war  days  which,  while  but 
five  feet  narrower,  is  sixty-two  feet  longer  than  "  Old 
Ironsides,"  the  Constitution  of  1812.  His  favorite 
type  was  a  long  narrow  and  comparatively  low  vessel 


144  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

like  the  Kearsarge  which  is  twenty-two  feet  less  in 
breadth  than  an  old  "  seventy-four."  Like  Perry,  he 
looked  forward  to  the  day  when  one  eleven-inch  shell 
gun  would  be  able  to  discharge  the  metal  once  hurled 
by  a  twenty-gun  broadside  of  the  old  President. 

During  July  1840,  Perry  conducted  a  series  of  ex 
periments  on  the  Fulton,  to  determine  the  effect  ort 
the  ship's  timbers  of  the  firing  of  heavy  ordnance 
across  the  deck  of  a  vessel.  The  introduction  of 
pivot  guns  on  board  men-of-war,  rendered  these  ex 
periments  of  great  value.  The  bowsprit  and  bulwarks, 
removed,  and  the  eight-inch  Paixhans  placed  in  the 
middle  part  of  the  forward  cross  bulwarks,  thirty  feet 
of  the  Fulton's  deck  was  exposed  to  concussion. 
Thirty-four  rounds  fired  at  a  target  on  shore,  showed 
that  every  discharge  produced  an  upheavel  of  the 
deck.  Empty  buckets  reversed  and  placed  at  various, 
distance  and  positions  on  the  deck  approaching  the 
gun,  were  upset,  kicked  into  the  air,  destroyed,  or 
shaken  overboard.  The  ease  with  which  men  could 
be  killed  by  the  windage  of  the  balls,  was  demonstra 
ted.  A  stout  cask  twelve  feet  forward  of  the  gun 
but  out  of  line  of  fire  was  knocked  overboard.  A 
glass  phial  which  was  hung  three  feet  above  the  can 
non's  muzzle  withstood  the  shock,  but  three  feet  for 
ward  at  the  same  elevation  was  shattered.  Tarpaulin 
of  two  thicknesses  fastened  over  a  scuttle  was  rent,, 
and  pine  boards  securely  nailed  withstood  only  two- 
or  three  firings. 

Perry  at  once  gave   the  natural  explanation  that 


REVOLUTIONS  IN  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE.     145 

the  expansion,  pressure,  and  sudden  contraction  of 
the  gases  generated  by  the  gunpowder,  caused  the 
air  of  the  hold  to  rash  up  to  fill  the  vacuum,  and  thus 
pressed  upon  the  planking  of  the  deck.  The  heavily 
built  Fulton  could  resist,  where  a  weaker  vessel 
would  start  her  planks,  just  as  a  fish  brought  up  in  a 
trawl  from  deep-sea  beds,  bursts  when  coming  to  the 
air.  He  suggested  that  any  slightly  built  vessel 
could  be  rendered  safe,  simply  by  flooding  the  decks 
with  three  inches  of  water.  This  he  demonstrated 
after  many  curious  and  interesting  experiments,  thus 
adding  to  the  sum  of  knowledge  which  every  naval 
officer,  in  the  changed  conditions  of  warfare,  ought 
to  obtain. 

Perhaps  no  finer  illustration  of  the  value  and  power 
of  pivot  guns  was  ever  given  than  upon  the  Kear- 
sarge  when  sinking  the  Alabama.  Yet  of  that  very 
ship,  the  British  newspapers  had  said.  "Her  decks 
cannot  withstand  the  concussion  and  recoil  of  her 
heavy  guns."  They  were  evidently  unaware  of  the 
knowledge  obtained  by  Perry  on  the  Fulton,  and 
applied  by  American  builders  of  our  men-of-war. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE  SCHOOL  OF  GUN  PRACTICE  AT  SANDY  HOOK. 

THE  French  Navy  was  at  this  time  leading  the 
British  in  improved  ordnance.  A  French  man-of- 
war  of  twenty-six  guns  was  armed  entirely  with  can 
non  able  to  fire  "detonating  shot."  She  was  reck 
oned  equal  to  two  old  line-of-battle  ships.  Her  visit 
to  American  ports  created  great  interest  among  our 
naval  officers,  and  the  Navy  Department  awoke  to 
the  necessity  of  improving  our  ordnance. 

On  the  4th  of  May,  1839,  Perry  received  orders 
which  he  was  glad  to  carry  out.  He  was  directed  to 
give  his  attention  to  experiments  with  hollow  shot. 
These  were  round  projectiles,  non-explosive,  but  in 
that  line  of  the  American  idea  of  low  velocity,  with 
smashing  power.  With  less  weight,  they  were  of 
greater  calibre,  and  required  less  powder  in  firing. 
They  were  invented  by  W.  Cochrane,  known  as  the 
father  of  heating  by  steam,  and  other  useful  appli 
ances. 

Perry  selected  a  site  near  Sandy  Hook  and  erected 
platforms,  targets,  sheds,  and  offices  for  ammunition 
and  fuses.  From  this  first  trial  and  scientific  study, 
in  the  United  States,  of  bombs  and  bomb-guns, 
down  to  the  last  experiments  with  dynamite  shells, 


GUN    PRACTICE    AT    SANDY    HOOK.  147 

the  waste  space  at  Sandy  Hook  —  the  American 
Sheerness  —  has  been  utilized  in  the  interest  of  pro 
gress  in  artillery.  Perry  set  up  butts  at  800,  880, 
1,000  and  1,200  yards  distance  from  the  guns,  and 
erected  one  target  for  firing  at  from  the  ship.  He 
devoted  himself  to  the  experiments  with  the  best 
methods  and  instruments  of  precision,  then  at 
command,  during  the  months  of  June  and  July,  re 
turning  to  the  navy  yard  once  or  twice  a  week  for 
letters,  provisions  and  fuses.  The  experiments  in 
shell  practice  were  interesting,  instructive  and  suffi 
ciently  conclusive.  Those  with  hollow  shot  were 
not  so  satisfactory. 

The  faith  of  Perry  in  the  shell-gun  was  fixed. 
Thenceforth  he  believed  that  bombs  could  be  fired 
with  very  nearly  as  much  precision  and  safety  from 
accident  as  solid  shot.  He  saw,  however,  that  much 
practice,  even  to  the  point  of  familiarity,  was  needed. 
His  report,  at  the  end  of  the  season,  in  which  he 
recommended  a  continuance  of  the  experiments, 
gives  us  a  picture  of  the  state  of  knowledge  in  our 
navy  at  that  time,  concerning  shell-shot.  Not  one 
of  those  under  his  direction  had  ever  seen  a  bomb- 
gun  discharged  ;  nor  had  had  his  attention  specially 
called  to  a  shell-gun  when  in  the  navy,  which  had  so 
long  suffered  from  the  dry  rot  of  unmeaning  routine. 
He  complains  of  the  lamentable  want  of  knowledge 
in  this  important  branch  of  the  naval  profession, 
when  already  so  many  of  the  French  and  British 
ships  were  armed  with  shell-guns.  However,  the 


148  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

officers  trained  at  Sandy  Hook,  were  now  capable  of 
teaching  others  in  the  use  of  explosive  projectiles 
aboard  the  ship.  Men  and  boys  had  all  made  pro 
gress  in  expertness.  He  suggested  that  the  winter 
rhonths  be  employed  in  teaching  boys  on  the  Fulton 
a  knowledge  of  pyrotechny,  and  that  fifteen  or 
twenty  boys  from  the  North  Carolina  should  be 
associated  with  them,  and  a  class  of  gunners  be 
thus  trained. 

His  plan  was  approved  by  the  Department.  A 
course  of  study  and  drill  in  gunnery,  pyrotechny  and 
the  knowledge  of  the  steam  engine,  was  organized 
and  carried  out  during  the  winter.  The  graduates 
of  this  school  afterwards  gave  good  account  of  them 
selves  in  the  Mexican  and  our  Civil  War.  We  see 
in  this  school,  the  beginning  of  the  present  admir 
able  training  of  our  sailors  in  the  science  of  explo 
sives. 

Perry,  meanwhile,  kept  himself  abreast  of  the 
latest  developments  and  discoveries  in  every  branch 
of  the  naval  art.  We  find  him  forwarding  to  the 
War  and  Navy  Departments  the  most  recent  Euro 
pean  publications  on  these  subjects.  He  made  him 
self  familiar  with  the  applications  of  electricity  to 
daily  use.  Neither  the  science  nor  the  art  of  ord 
nance  had  made  great  progress  in  America,  since 
Mr.  Samuel  Wheeler  cast,  in  17/6,  what  was  prob 
ably  the  first  iron  three-pounder  gun  made  in  the 
United  States,  and  which  the  British  captured  at 
Brandywine  and  took  to  the  Tower  of  London.  The 


GUN  PRACTICE  AT  SANDY  HOOK.       149 

war  of  1 8 12  showed,  however,  that  in  handling  their 
guns,  the  Yankees  were  superior  in  theory  and  prac 
tice  to  their  British  foes. 

In  1812,  Colonel  Bomford,  of  the  United  States 
Ordnance  Department,  invented  the  sea  coast  how 
itzer,  or  cannon  for  firing  shells  at  long  range,  by 
direct  fire,  which  he  improved  in  1814  and  called  a 
"Columbiad."  By  this  gun  a  shell  was  fired  at  an 
English  vessel,  near  New  York,  in  1815,  which  ex 
ploded  with  effect.  It  was  this  invention  which  the 
French  General  Paixhans,  introduced  into  Europe  in 
1824.*  The  Frenchman  was  another  Amerigo,  and 
Bomford,  being  another  Columbus,  was  forgotten, 
for  the  name  " Paixhans"  clung  to  the  canons  obusiers 
or  improved  columbiad.  The  making  or  the  use  of 
bomb-cannons,  in  America,  was  not  continued  after 
the  war  of  1812,  and  when  first  employed  by  Perry, 
at  Sandy  Hook,  were  novelties  to  both  the  lay  and 
professional  men  of  the  navy  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  When  four  shell-guns  were,  in  1842,  put 
upon  the  ship-of-the-line,  Columbus,  according  to 
Captain  Parker,  shells  were  still  unfamiliar  curiosi 
ties.  He  writes  in  his  Recollections,  p.  21  :- 

"The  shells  were  a  great  bother  to  us,  as  they 
were  kept  in  the  shell  room  and  no  one  was  allowed 
even  to  look  at  them.  It  seemed  to  be  a  question 
with  the  division  officers  whether  the  fuse  went  in 
first,  or  the  sabot,  or  whether  the  fuse  should  be 


*  See  P.  V.  Hagner,  U.  S.  A.,  Johnson's  Encyclopedia,  arti 
cle   Columbiad. 


150  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

ignited  before  putting  the  shell  in  the  gun  or  not. 
However,  we  used  to  fire  them  off,  though  I  cannot 
say  I  ever  saw  them  hit  anything."  As  the  jolly 
captain  elsewhere  says :  "  It  took  so  long  to  get 
ready  for  the  great  event  (of  target  practice)  that  we 
seemed  to  require  a  resting  spell  of  six  months  be 
fore  we  tried  it  again."  About  this  time  also  pivot 
guns  came  into  general  use  on  our  national  vessels, 
all  cannon  having  previously  been  so  mounted  that 
they  could  only  fire  straight  ahead. 

The  Mexican  War  was  a  school  of  artillery  prac 
tice  and  marked  a  distinct  era  of  progress.  The 
flying  artillery  of  Ringgold,  in  the  field,  and  Perry's 
siege  guns,  in  the  naval  battery  at  Vera  Cruz,  were 
revelations  to  Europe  of  the  great  advance  made  by 
Americans  in  this  branch  of  the  science  of  destruc 
tion.  In  the  Civil  War,  on  land  and  water,  the 
stride  of  centuries  was  taken  in  four  years,  when 
Dahlgren  introduced  that  "  new  era  of  gun  manu 
facture  which  now  interests  all  martial  nations." 
Since  then,  the  enormous  guns  of  Woolwich  and 
Krupp  have  come  into  existence,  but  perfection  in 
heavy  ordnance  is  yet  far  from  attainment.  Much 
has  been  done  in  improving  details,  but  the  original 
principle  of  gun  architecture  is  still  in  vogue.  The 
loss  of  pressure  between  breach  and  muzzle  is  not 
yet  remedied.  To  build  a  gun  in  which  velocity  and 
pressure  will  be  even  "at  the  cannon's  mouth"  is. 
the  problem  of  our  age.  When  a  ball  can  leave  the 
muzzle  with  all  the  initial  pressure  behind  it  we  may 


GUN  PRACTICE  AT  SANDY  HOOK.       151 

look  for  the  golden  age  of  peace  :  such  a  piece  of 
ordnance  may  well  be  named  " Peace-maker."  This 
problem  in  dynamics  greatly  interested  Perry  ;  but 
foiled  him,  as  it  has  thus  far  foiled  many  others. 

The  School  of  Gun  Practice  was  opened  again  in 
the  spring  of  1840.  He  was  now  experimenting 
with  an  eight-inch  Paixhans  gun,  and  comparing  with 
it  a  forty-two  pounder,  which  had  a  bore  reamed  up  to 
an  eight-inch  calibre.  Not  possessing  the  present  deli 
cate  methods  of  measuring  the  velocity  of  shot,  such 
as  the  Boulanger  chronograph,  invented  in  1875,  and 
now  in  use  at  the  United  States  ordnance  grounds  at 
Sandy  Hook,  he  obtained  his  measurements  by 
means  of  hurdles  or  buoys.  After  their  positions 
had  been  verified  by  triangulation,  these  were  ranged 
at  intervals  of  440  yards  apart  along  a  distance  of 
31-4  miles.  Observers  placed  at  four  intermediate 
points  noted  time,  wind,  barometer,  etc.  The  extreme 
range  of  a  Paixhans  shot  was  found  to  be  4067  yards, 
or  about  21-3  miles.  In  transmitting  eight  tables, 
with  his  report  he  stated  that  "  These  experiments 
have  furnished  singular  and  important  information." 
After  a  summary  of  unusual,  interesting  and  valuable 
work,  the  school  was  closed  November  23,  1840,  the 
weather  being  too  severe  for  out -door  work. 

It  may  be  surmised  that  all  articles  of  the  new 
naval  creed  in  which  Perry  so  promptly  uttered  his 
faith,  were  very  disagreeable  to  many  of  the  old 
school.  The  belief  in  the  three-decker  line-of-battle 
ship  and  sailing  wooden  frigate  approached,  in  many 


152  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

minds,  the  sacreclness  of  an  article  of  religion.  The 
new  appliances  and  discoveries  which  upset  the  old 
traditions  savoured  of  rank  heresy.  Those  who  held 
to  the  old  articles,  and  to  wooden  walls  were  perforce 
obliged,  as  ecclesiastics  are,  when  driven  to  the  wal  , 
to  strengthen  their  position  by  damnatory  clauses. 
Anathemas,  as  numerous  as  those  of  the  Council  cf 
Trent,  were  hurled  at  the  new  reformation  from  the 
side  which  considered  that  there  was  no  need  for 
reform.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  employment  of  ex 
plosive  shells  was  denounced  as  inhuman.  History 
follows  logic.  If  "all  is  fair  in  war,"  then  invci - 
tions  first  branded  as  too  horrible  for  use  by  humaa 
beings,  will  be  finally  adopted.  The  law  of  mil 
itary  history  moves  toward  perfection  in  the  killing 
machine. 

Laymen  and  landsmen,  outside  the  navy,  who  look 
upon  naval  improvement  and  innovation  as  necessi 
ties,  in  order  that  our  soldiers  of  the  sea  may  be 
abreast  of  other  nations  in  the  art  of  war,  consider 
radical  changes  a  matter  of  course  :  not  so  the  old 
salts  who  have  hardened  into  a  half  century  of 
routine,  until  their  manner  of  professional  think 
ing  is  simple  Chinese.  They  saw  that  horizontal 
shell  firing  was  likely  to  turn  floating  castles  into 
fire -wood.  In  the  good  old  days  ships  were  rarely 
sunk  in  battle,  whether  in  squadron  line  or  in  naval 
duels.  Though  hammered  at  for  hours,  and  reduced 
to  hulks  and  charnel  houses,  they  still  floated  ;  but 
with  the  new  weapon,  sinking  an  enemy  was  com- 


GUN  PRACTICE  AT  SANDY  HOOK.        1 53 

paratively  easy  work.  British  oak  or  Indian  teak 
was  nothing  against  bombs  that  would  tear  out  the 
sides.  The  vastness  of  the  target  surface,  on  frigate 
or  liner,  was  now  a  source  of  weakness,  for  shells 
produced  splinters  of  a  size  unknown  before.  A 
little  ship  could  condense  a  volcano,  and  carry  a  sap 
ping  and  mining  train  in  a  bucket.  The  old  three- 
deckers  must  go,  and  the  frigates  become  lower  and 
narrower  with  fewer  and  heavier  guns. 

A  brave  British  officer  is  said  to  have  cried  out, 
"  For  God's  sake,  keep  out  the  shells."  New  means 
of  defence  must  be  provided.  The  mollusk-like 
wooden  ships  must  become  crustacean  in  iron  coats. 
The  demonstrated  efficiency  of  shells  and  shell-guns, 
and  the  increased  accuracy  of  fire  of  the  Paixhan 
smooth-bore  cannon  —  cultivated  to  high  pitch  even 
before  the  introduction  of  rifles  —  had  made  impos 
sible  the  old  naval  duel  and  line-of-battle. 

During  the  whole  of  this  extended  series  of  ex 
periments  on  the  Fulton,  and  at  Sandy  Hook,  with 
new  apparatus  and  projectiles,  with  assistants  often 
ignorant  and  unfamiliar  with  the  new  engines  of 
war,  until  trained,  no  lives  were  lost,  nor  was  a  man 
injured  by  anything  that  could  be  foreseen.  The 
bursting  of  a  gun  cannot  always  be  guarded  against, 
and  what  befell  Perry,  in  his  boyhood,  happened 
again  in  1841,  though  this  time  without  injury  to 
himself.  The  forty-four  pounder  on  the  Fulton  burst, 
killing  two  men.  Their  funeral  October  8,  1841, 
was,  by  the  Commodore's  orders,  made  very  impres- 


154  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

sive.  The  flags  of  all  ships  on  the  station  were 
flown  at  half-mast.  All  the  officers  who  could  be 
spared,  and  two  hundred  seamen  and  marines,  formed 
the  cortege  in  ten  boats,  the  rowers  pulling  minute 
strokes.  The  flotilla  moved  in  solemn  procession 
round  the  Fulton,  the  band  playing  a  dirge.  Pern', 
himself,  brought  up  the  rear  —  a  sincere  mourner. 
At  the  grave,  Chaplain  Harris  made  remarks  befii- 
ting  the  sad  occasion. 

Jackson's  administration  being  over,  and  with  it 
much  of  the  corruption  which  the  spoils  system  ii  - 
troduced  into  the  government  service,  it  was  now 
possible  to  reform  even  the  navy  yards.  An  honor 
all  the  more  welcome  and  enjoyable,  because  a  com 
plete  surprise,  was  Perry's  appointment  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  and  New  York 
Naval  Station.  On  the  24th  of  June,  1840,  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Navy  wrote  to  Perry,  stating  his  dis 
like  of  the  bad  business  conduct  of  the  yard,  and  the 
undue  use  of  political  influence.  With  full  confid 
ence  in  Captain  Perry's  character  and  abilities  — 
stating,  also,  that  Perry  had  never  sought  the  office 
either  directly  or  indirectly — he  tendered  him  the 
appointment.  The  Secretary  desired  that  "  no  per 
son  in  the  yard  be  the  better  or  the  worse  off  on 
account  of  his  political  opinions,  and  that  no  agent 
of  the  government  should  be  allowed  to  electioneer." 
The  letter  was  an  earnest  plea  for  civil  service 
reform. 

Henceforth,  Matthew  Perry's  symbol  of  office  was 


GUN  PRACTICE  AT  SANDY  HOOK.        155 

"the  broad  pennant,"  and  his  rank  that  of  "com 
modore."  Yet  despite  added  responsibilities  and 
honors,  he  was  but  a  captain  in  the  navy.  Until  the 
year  1862,  there  was  no  higher  office  in  the  United 
States  Navy  than  that  of  captain,  and  all  of  Perry's 
later  illustrious  services  under  the  red,  the  white,  or 
the  blue  broad  pennant,  in  Africa,  Mexico  and  Japan, 
added  nothing  to  his  pay,  permanent  rank,  or  govern 
ment  reward.  Not  until  four  years  after  his  death 
was  the  title  of  commodore  significant  of  grade,  or 
salary,  higher  than  that  of  captain. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE    TWIN    STEAMERS    MISSOURI    AND    MISSISSIPPI. 

THE  activity  of  American  inventors  kept  equal' 
pace  at  this  period  in  the  two  directions  of  artillerr 
and  steam  appliances.  In  1841  the  sum  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars  was  appropriated  by  Congress  for 
experiments  in  ordnance,  and  a  possible  one  million 
dollars  for  the  "  shot-and-shell  proof"  iron-clad 
"Stevens  Battery"  then  building  at  Hoboken,  N.  Y. 

Perry  was  frequently  called  upon  to  pronounce 
upon  the  various  methods  of  harnessing,  improving, 
and  economizing  the  new  motor.  We  find  him  in 
April,  1842,  testing  three  new  appliances  for  cutting 
off  steam,  and,  on  May  17,  1842,  praying  that  the 
Fulton  may  be  kept  in  commission  for  the  numerous 
experiments  which  he  was  ordered  to  make.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  gladly  referred  the  numerous 
petitioners  for  governmental  approval  to  Captain 
Perry.  In  November  the  question  is  upon  a  ventila 
tor  ;  again,  it  is  on  the  comparative  merits  of  Liver 
pool,  Pennsylvania,  or  Cumberland  coal ;  anon,  a  score 
or  so  of  minor  inventions  claimed  to  be  improvements. 
Perry  sometimes  tried  the  temper  of  inventors  who 
lived  in  the  clouds  and  fed  on  azure,  yet  he  strove  to 
give  to  all,  however  visionary,  a  fair  chance,  for  he 


STEAMERS    MISSOURI    AND    MISSISSIPPI.  157 

believed  in  progress.  He  foresaw  the  necessity  of 
rifled  ordnance  and  armor,  and  of  steamers  of  the 
maximum  power  for  swiftness  and  battery  :  perfection 
in  these,  he  knew  could  be  obtained  only  by  pro 
longed  study  and  slow  steps  of  attainment. 

The  collaborator  of  Washington   Irving  in  Salma 
gundi,  James  K.  Paulding,  was  at  this  time  Secretary 
of  the  Navy.     The  position  offered  to  Irving  and  de 
clined,  was  given,  at  Irving' s  suggestion  to  his  part 
ner.     He  was  known  more  as  a  literary  expert  than 
as  a  statesman  or  man  for  the  naval  portfolio,  although 
as  far  back  as  1814,  he  had  been  appointed  by  Presi 
dent  Madison  one  of  a  Board  of  Naval  Commissioners. 
He  was  not  a  warm  friend  to  the  new  fashions  which 
threatened  to  overthrow  naval  traditions,  denude  the 
sea  of    its  romance,  and    the  sailing  ships  of   their 
glory.     The  ferment  of    ideas  and  the  explosion  of 
innovations  around  him  were  little  to  his  taste.     To 
his  mind,  the  engineers  who  were  beginning  to  in 
vade  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  Department  seemed 
little  better  than  iconoclasts.     In  the  Literary  Life  of 
J.  K.  Panlding  are  some  amusing  references  to  his 
horror  of  the  new  fire-breathing  monsters ;  and  the 
entries  in  his  journal  show  how  intensely  bored  he 
was  by  the  new  ideas,  and  the  persistency  with  which 
the  advanced  naval    officers  held    them.     He  wrote 
that  he  "  never  would  consent  to  see  our  grand  old 
ships  supplanted  by  these  new  and  ugly  sea-monsters." 
He  cries  out  in  his  diary,  "  I  am  steamed  \.Q  death." 
.  For   this    metaphorical    parboiling  of    "the   liter- 


158  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

ary  Dutchman  in  Van  Buren's  cabinet,  "  Perry  We  s 
largely  responsible.  Steam  had  come  to  stay,  and 
with  it  the  engineer,  despite  the  Rip  Van  Winkles  in 
and  out  of  the  service.  Officers  call  Perry  "  the  father 
of  the  steam  navy."  An  old  engineer  says,  "He 
certainly  was,  if  any  man  may  be  entitled  to  be  ;-o 
called."  Another  writes  "It  was  largely  through  his 
influence  and  representations,  that  the  Mississippi 
and  Missouri,  then  the  most  splendid  vessels  of  their 
class,  were  built." 

A  beginning  of  two  steam  war  vessels  had  been 
practically  determined  on,  soon  after  Perry's  return 
from  Europe.  He  was  summoned  to  Washington  in 
May  1839  to  preside  at  the  Board  of  Navy  Commis 
sioners  to  consult  concerning  machinery  for  them. 
The  sessions  from  9  A.  M.  to  3.30  P.  M.  were  held 
from  May  23d  to  28th. 

The  practical  wisdom  of  Captain  Perry's  decision 
in  regard  to  the  engines  most  suitable  for  our  first 
steamers  —  the  superb  Missouri  and  the  grand  old 
Mississippi —  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  when  ready  for 
service,  the  Mississippi  had  no  superior  on  the  sea  for 
beauty,  speed  and  durability.  Probably  out  of  no 
vessel  in  the  navy  of  the  United  States,  was  so  much 
genuinely  good  work  obtained  as  out  of  \ht  Missis 
sippi,  during  her  twenty  years  of  constant  service  in  all 
the  waters.  Had  she  not  been  burned  off  Port  Hud 
son  in  the  river  whose  name  she  bore,  in  1862,  she 
might  have  lived  a  ship's  generation  longer.  Her 
praises  are  generously  sung  in  the  writings  of  all  who 


STEAMERS    MISSOURI    AND    MISSISSIPPI.  159 

lived  on  board  her.  Captain  Parker  speaks  of  "  The 
good  old  steamship  Mississippi,  a  ship  that  did  more 
hard  work  in  her  time  than  any  steamer  in  the  navy 
has  done  since  and  she  was  built  as  far  back  as  1841." 
What  the  Constitution  was  among  the  old  heavy 
sailing  frigates,  the  Mississippi  was  to  our  steam 
Navy.  On  the  outside  of  Commodore  Foxhall 
Parker's  book  on  Naval  Tactics  Under  Steam  is  fitly 
stamped  in  gold  a  representation  of  the  Mississippi* 
To  speak  precisely,  she  was  begun  in  1839,  an^ 
launched  in  1841,  at  Philadelphia.  She  was  of  1692 
tons  burthen,  and  225  feet  long.  She  carried  two  ten- 
inch,  and  eight  eight-inch  guns,  and  a  crew  of  525  men. 
Her  cost  was  $567,408.  The  cost  of  the  iron-clad 
"  Steven's  Battery,  "  as  limited  by  Congress,  was  not 


*  The  Mississippi  made  six  long  cruises,  two  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  one  in  the  Mediterranean,  two  to  Japan,  and  one  in  the 
Gulf  and  Mississippi  under  Farragut.  She  twice  circumnavi 
gated  the  globe,  Thoroughly  repaired,  she  left  Boston,  May  23, 
1861,  for  service  in  the  Civil  War.  In  passing  Forts  Jackson  and 
Philip,  April  24,  1862,  and  in  the  capture  of  New  Orleans  which 
gave  the  Confederacy  its  first  blow  in  the  vitals,  the  Mississippi 
took  foremost  part  under  command  of  Captain  Melancthon 
Smith.  Her  guns  sunk  two  steamers,  and  her  prow  sunk  the 
ram  Manassas.  Passing  safely  the  fire  rafts,  and  the  Challmette 
batteries,  she  was  the  first  vessel  to  display  the  stars  and  stripes 
before  the  city.  In  the  attack  on  Port  Hudson,  March  14,  1863, 
this  old  side-wheeler  formed  the  rear  guard  of  Farragut's  line. 
In  the  dark  night  and  dense  smoke,  the  pilot  lost  his  way.  The 
Mississippi  grounded,  and  was  for  forty  minutes  under  steady 
fire  of  the  rifled  cannon  of  the  batteries,  and  was  burned  to  pre 
vent  her  use  by  the  Confederates. 


I6O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

to  exceed  that  of  the  twin  wooden  steamers.  Hence, 
its  construction  languished,  while  the  Mississippi  and 
Missouri  were  soon  built.  Perry,  from  the  first, 
strenuously  urged  that  the  greatest  care  should  be 
used,  the  best  materials  selected,  and  the  most  trust 
worthy  contractors  be  chosen.  "  In  the  first  ocean 
steamers  to  be  put  forth  by  the  government,  no  cost 
should  be  spared  to  make  them  perfect  in  all  re 
spects."  As  there  was  then  no  lack  of  harmony  anc 
union  among  the  bureaus,  there  was  no  danger  o ' 
constructing  different  parts  of  the  ship  on  incompati 
ble  plans,  with  the  consequent  peril  of  failure  of  tin- 
whole.  The  various  constructive  departments  wrought 
in  unison.  These  two  steam  war  vessels  were  built 
before  naval  architecture  and  the  sea  alike  wen; 
robbed  of  their  poetry.  The  Missouri  beside  her 
machinery,  carried  19,000  square  feet  of  canvass,  and 
the  Mississippi  about  as  much,  so  that  they  looked 
beautiful  to  the  eye  as  well  as  excelled  in  power. 

On  her  trip  of  March  5,  starting  at  eight  pounds 
pressure  and  rising  to  sixteen,  the  Missouri  made 
twelve  and  a  half  statute  miles  per  hour.  Her  motion 
was  quiet  and  graceful,  the  tremor  slight,  while  at  her 
bow,  above  the  cutwater,  rose  a  boa  of  water  five  feet 
high.  A  trial  at  sea  with  her  heavy  spars  was  made 
on  the  24th  of  March.  In  pointing  out  her  merits 
and  the  defects,  Perry  emphasized  the  necessity  of 
having  in  the  persons,  in  charge  of  the  equipment  of 
war  steamers,  a  combined  knowledge  of  engineering 
and  seamanship.  In  the  men  who  presided  over  the 


STEAMERS    MISSOURI    AND    MISSISSIPPI. 


161 


machinery,  this  was  noticeably  lacking.     Most  engine- 
builders  and  engineers  in  1841  had  never  been  at  sea; 
hence  a  knowledge  of  all    the  details  necessary  for 
safety  and  efficiency  was  not  common, 


THE    UNITED    STATES    STEAM    FRIGATE    MISSISSIPPI. 


During  the  month  of  October,  the  twin  vessels 
were  made  ready,  and  on  the  9th  of  November,  pro 
ceeded  to  Washington.  On  her  return,  the  Missis 
sippi  made  the  time  from  the  Potomac  Navy  Yard 
to  the  Wallabout  in  fifty-one  hours. 


1 62  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Commander  A.  S.  Mackenzie  having  applied  De 
cember  i6th  for  the  second  in  command,  the  Naval 
Commissioners  asked  Perry  in  regard  to  the  number 
and  arrangements  of  the  crew  of  the  Missouri.  He 
recommended  that  there  should  be  on  each  of  the  large 
steamers  a  captain,  and  a  commander ;  so  that,  after 
some  experience,  the  latter  could  take  command  of  the 
medium  or  smaller  steamers  to  be  hereafter  built. 
From  the  first  Perry  urged  that  all  our  naval  officers 
should  learn  engineering  as  well  as  seamanship,  so  as 
not  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  their  engineers.  In  the  be 
ginning,  from  the  habits,  education,  and  manners  of 
engineers  taken  from  land  or  the  merchant  service, 
one  must  not  look  for  those  official  proprieties  de 
rivable  only  from  a  long  course  of  education  and 
discipline  in  the  navy.  Hence  there  would  be  a 
natural  disposition  to  exercise  more  authority  than 
belonged  to  them,  and  to  be  chary  of  communicating 
the  little  knowledge  they  possessed.  A  purely  naval 
officer  in  such  condition  would  be  like  a  lieutenant  at 
the  mercy  of  the  boatswain.  The  captain  must  not 
carry  sail  without  reference  to  the  engines,  and  so  the 
steam  power  must  not  be  exerted  when  mast,  spars 
or  sails  would  be  strained.  Harmony  between 
quarter-deck  and  engine-room  was  absolutely  nec 
essary. 

The  British  Government  encouraged  officers  to  take 
charge  of  private  steamers  so  as  to  acquire  experience, 
and  no  man  unused  to  the  nature  of  machinery  could 
command  a  British  war-steamer.  In  our  navy  no  one 


STEAMERS    MISSOURI    AND    MISSISSIPPI.  163 

should  be  appointed  to  command  in  sea  steamers 
unless  he  had  a  decided  inclination  to  acquire  the 
experience. 

Even  while  the  Missouri  was  building,  Perry  wrote 
a  letter  concerning  her  complement,  and  after  speak 
ing  a  good  word  for  the  coal  heavers  and  firemen,  and 
praying  that  their  number  might  be  increased,  he 
again  proposed  a  scheme  for  the  supply  of  naval 
apprentices  for  steamers.  He  suggested  also  that  a 
class  of  Third  Assistant  Engineer  should  be  formed. 
This  would  create  emulation  and  an  esprit  du  corps 
highly  favorable  for  high  professional  character  and 
abilities  among  the  engineers.  The  grade  would  be 
good  as  a  probationary  position,  besides  reducing  to 
a  minimum,  jeopardy  to  the  ship  and  crew. 

In  a  word,  Perry  foresaw  that,  if  the  splendid  new 
steam  frigate  Missouri  were  left  to  incompetent 
hands,  she  would  fall  a  prey  by  fire  or  wreck,  to  care 
lessness  and  ignorance. 

"  He  was  proud  of  these  two  vessels,  and  no  one 
had  a  better  right  to  be  proud  of  them  than  he.  He 
imagined  them  and  created  them,  while  others  did 
the  details  and  claimed  most  of  the  credit  of  their 
superiority  over  men-of-war  of  that  day  of  other 
nations  ;"  for  down  to  1850,  our  policy  was  to  build 
better  vessels  than  were  built  in  any  part  of  the 
world.  Thus  our  navy  was  small  but  very  effective. 

"Perry's  two  vessels  were  without  question  not 
only  successes,  but  far  beyond  the  most  sanguine 
hopes  and  expectations  of  friendly  critics  of  the  time. 


164  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  Susquehanna  (and 
some  others  of  smaller  size)  built  after  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Missouri  had  proved  themselves  successes, 
were  not  successes.  With  these  latter,  Commodore 
Perry  had  nothing  to  do,  as  to  plans,  designs  or  con 
struction." 

No  sketch  of  the  early  history  of  the  steam  navy 
of  the  United  States  could  be  justly  made  without 
honorable  mention  of  Captain  Robert  F.  Stockton. 
Nor  was  the  paddle-wheel  of  the  Mississippi  to  remain 
the  emblem  upon  the  engineer's  shoulder-strap.  The 
propeller  screw  was  soon  to  supersede  the  paddle- 
wheel  as  motor  of  the  ship  and  emblem  of  the  engi 
neer's  profession.  The  screw  is  one  of  the  many 
discoveries  located,  by  uncritical  readers,  in  China. 
The  French  claim  its  invention,  and  have  erected  at. 
Boulogne  a  monument  to  Frederick  Sauvage  its  re 
puted  inventor.  Ericsson  demonstrated  its  value  in 
1836,  by  towing  the  Admiralty  up  the  Thames  at 
the  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour  ;  yet  the  British  naval 
officers  reported  against  its  possibility  of  use  on 
ships  of  war.  Eight  years  afterward,  the  man-of-war, 
Rattler,  was  built  as  a  propeller,  and  a  successful  one 
it  was.  Ericsson,  after  constructing  the  engines  of  the 
propeller  steamer,  Robert  F.  Stockton,  was  invited  to 
Philadelphia,  where  he  built  the  first  screw  steamer 
of  the  United  States  Navy,  and  of  the  world,  planned 
as  such.  After  the  name  of  his  native  town,  it  was 
called  by  the  Commodore,  the  Princeton. 

At  the  end  of  ten  years  of  shore  service,  devoted 


STEAMERS    MISSOURI    AND    MISSISSIPPI.  l6$ 

to  the  mastery  of  the  science  and  art  of  war  as  illus 
trated  in  the  applications  of  steam,  chambered  and 
rifled  ordnance,  hollow  shot  and  explosive  shells,  iron 
armor  and  rams,  the  building  and  handling  of  new 
types  of  ships,  Perry  was  beginning  to  see  clearly,  in 
outline  at  least,  the  typical  American  wooden  man-of- 
war  of  the  future.  Such  a  ship,  we  may  perhaps 
declare  the  Kearsarge  to  have  been.  In  her  build, 
motor  and  battery,  she  epitomized  all  the  points  of 
American  naval  architecture  and  ordnance,  to  which 
Perry's  faith  and  works  led.  Yet  these  very  features 
were  severely  criticized  by  the  English  press,  in 
the  days  before  the  British-built  Alabama  was  sunk. 
These  were,  in  construction,  stoutness  of  frame,  nar 
rowness  of  beam,  heaviness  of  scantling,  all  possible 
protection  of  machinery,  lightness  of  draught,  and  a 
model  calculated  for  a  maximum  of  speed  ;  in  battery, 
the  heaviest  shell-guns  mounted  as  pivots  and  firing 
the  largest  shells,  accuracy  of  aim  combined  with 
rapidity  of  fire  ;  in  movement,  the  utmost  skill  with 
sail,  steam  and  rudder,  and  celerity  in  obtaining  the 
raking  position.  In  such  a  ship  and  with  such  guns, 
were  the  right  executive  officer,  and  commander,  when 
the  first  great  naval  duel  fought  with  steam  and 
shells  took  place  on  Sunday  June  19,  1864,  at  sea, 
outside  of  Cherbourg.  Historic  and  poetic  justice  to 
the  memory  of  Matthew  Perry  was  then  done  with 
glorious  results,  that  will  ever  live  in  history.  When 
the  Alabama  sank  from  the  sight  of  the  sun  with  her 
wandering  stars  and  the  bars  of  slavery  after  her  into 


T66  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

the  ocean's  grave,  the  guns  that  sent  her  down  were 
directed  by  James  S.  Thornton,*  the  efficient  execu 
tive  officer  of  the  Kearsarge,  and  by  his  own  boast 
and  testimony,  the  favorite  pupil  of  Commodore 
Matthew  C.  Perry. 


See  his  portrait,  p.  926,  Century  Magazine.  1885. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    BROAD    PENNANT     IN    AFRICA. 

THE  work  to  which  Matthew  Perry  was  assigned 
during  the  next  three  years  grew  out  of  the  famous 
treaty  made  by  Daniel  Webster  and  Lord  Ashburton. 
Of  this  treaty  we,  in  1883  and  1884,  on  account  of 
the  transfer  of  so  much  of  our  financial  talent  across 
the  Canadian  border,  heard  nearly  as  much  as  our 
fathers  before  us  in  1842.  In  addition  to  the  rectifi 
cation  of  the  long-disputed  boundary  question,  the 
eighth  and  ninth  articles  contained  provisions  for  ex 
tirpating  the  African  slave  trade.  By  the  tenth 
article,  the  two  governments  agreed  to  the  mutual 
extradition  of  suspected  criminals.  Out  of  the  inter 
pretation  of  this  last,  grew  the  famous  "  Underground 
Railway"  of  slavery  days,  besides  the  residence  in 
Canada  of  men  fleeing  from  conscription  during  the 
civil  war,  and  of  defaulting  bank  officers  in  later  years. 
To  the  crimes  making  offenders  liable  to  extradition, 
in  the  supplementary  treaty  made  under  President 
Cleveland's  administration,  four  others  are  added, 
including  larceny  to  the  amount  of  fifty  dollars,  and 
malicious  destruction  of  property  endangering  life. 

It  is  very  probable  that  war  was  averted  by  the 
sound  diplomacy  of  the  Webster-Ashburton  treaty. 
The  two  nations  instead  of  crossing  swords  were 


l68  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

enabled  through  creative  statesmanship,  to  join  hands 
for  wholesome  moral  work,  and  especially  to  improve 
off  the  face  of  the  ocean,  "the  sum  of  all  villanies." 
The  discovery  of  America  had  given  a  vast  impulse 
to  this  ancient  and  horrible  traffic,  and  about  fort) 
millions  of  negroes  had  been  seized  for  the  markets 
of  the  western  continent.  About  seventy  thousand 
of  these  victims  were  brought  to  our  country  prior  to 
the  year  1808,  and  many  thousands  have  been  sur- 
reptiously  introduced  since  that  epoch. 

The  United  States  was  to  send  an  eighty-gur 
squadron  to  Africa  to  suppress  piracy  and  the  slave- 
trade.  The  preparation  for  this  real  service  to 
humanity  and  the  world's  commerce  was  curiously 
interpreted  in  South  America,  as  a  menace  to  the 
states  of  that  continent.  In  their  first  thrills  of  in 
dependence,  these  republics  were  naturally  suspicious 
of  their  nearest  strong  neighbor. 

The  work  of  the  American  men-of-war  in  overhaul 
ing  slavers,  involved  the  question  of  the  right  of 
search.  Notwithstanding  that  the  war  1812  had  been 
fought  to  settle  the  question,  it  was  not  yet  decided. 
It  required  secession  and  the  so-called  Southern  Con 
federacy  to  arise,  with  the  aid  of  Captain  Wilkes  and 
Mr.  Seward,  to  force  the  British  government  to  dis 
own  her  ancient  claim. 

Orders  to  command  the  African  squadron,  and  to 
protect  the  settlements  of  the  blacks  established  by 
the  American  Colonization  Society,  were  received 
Feburary  20,  1843.  The  spring  was  consumed  in 


THE  BROAD  PENNANT  IN  AFRICA.       169 

preparations,  and  on  the  5th  of  June,  the  Commodore 
hoisted  his  broad  pennant  on  the  Saratoga*  In  the 
flagship  of  a  squadron,  Matthew  Perry  sped  to 
southern  oceans,  a  helper  in  the  progress  of  Africa. 
Arriving  at  Monrovia,  in  due  time,  his  first  duty  was 
to  mete  out  justice  to  the  natives  of  Sinoe  and  Berri- 
bee  for  the  murders  of  American  seamen.  He  found 
awaiting  him  one  of  the  head  men  of  Berribee  with 
authority  to  arrange  a  palaver  of  all  the  chiefs  with 
the  American  commander.  To  understand  the  prob 
lem  before  the  Commodore,  let  us  glance  at  the 
situation. 

The  question  of  war  or  peace  among  the  natives 
on  or  near  the  coast  is  a  financial  one  of  monopoly 
and  privilege.  The  tribes  occupying  the  coast  or  sea 
"  beach  "  have  the  advantage  of  all  the  tribes  behind 
them  in  the  interior,  inasmuch  as  they  hold  the 
monopoly  of  foreign  trade  and  barter  with  passing 
ships.  The  coast  men  sell  the  coveted  foreign  goods, 
rum,  tobacco,  powder  and  notions  to  the  next  tribe 
inland  at  a  handsome  profit.  These,  in  turn,  sell 
to  the  next  tribe  within,  and  these  to  the  next,  and 
so  the  filtering  process  goes  on.  The  prices,  to  the 
last  purchaser  and  consumer,  one  or  two  hundred 
miles  from  the  sea,  after  passing  through  all  these 
middle-men,  are  enormous.  The  position  then  next 
the  ships  was  a  coveted  one,  and  those  in  sight  of 
blue  water  had  to  keep  it  by  arms  as  champions. 
Only  the  most  warlike  tribes  get  and  hold  this  place. 


*  Used  as  a  training-ship  now,  May,  1887. 


I/O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

To  gain  this  supreme  advantage  of  trade  at  first 
hand,  the  Crack-Os,  a  tribe  two  days  distant  inlanc , 
had  fought  their  way  seaward  and  captured  from  the 
Bassa  Cove  and  Berribee  people,  about  ten  miles  of 
coast  on  which  they  had  built  five  towns.  Giving 
free  rein  to  their  predatory  propensities,  they  seized 
all  canoes  passing  their  front,  and  plundered  or  mur 
dered  their  crews.  Growing  bolder,  they  overwhelmed 
by  their  numbers  even  foreign  vessels  after  enticing 
these  to  visit  them,  and  their  crews  to  land.  The 
captain  and  crew  of  the  American  schooner,  Mary 
Carver,  were  first  tortured  and  then  murdered.  For 
three  hours,  Captain  Carver  suffered  unspeakable 
horrors.  He  was  bound  and  delivered  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  the  savage  women  and  children  who 
amused  themselves  by  sticking  thorns  in  his  flesh. 
In  another  instance,  Captain  Burke,  mate  and  cook, 
of  the  Edward  Barley,  were  cruelly  murdered.  In 
consequence  of  these  atrocities,  traders  avoided  this 
villainous  coast,  and  commerce  came  to  a  stand 
still. 

The  mere  destruction  of  any  of  the  beach  towns 
would  be  of  no  avail,  if  the  black  rascals  were  allowed 
to  rebuild.  With  their  rice  and  cassava  or  yam 
plantations  a  few  miles  back,  to  which  they  removed 
the  women,  children,  and  other  valuables,  they  would 
laugh  at  the  white  man's  pains.  The  only  lasting 
check  on  their  villainy  would  be  permanent  exclusion 
from  the  beach. 

There  was  enough  of  another  side  to  the  story  to 


THE  BROAD  PENNANT  IN  AFRICA.        I /I 

remove  indiscriminate  vengence  far  from  the  Com 
modore's  purposes.  Our  government  heard  many 
complaints  against  the  blacks,  while  their  voice  was 
unheard.  The  native  towns  and  fishing  boats  were 
frequently  fired  into,  their  towns  cannonaded  and 
burnt,  and  the  blacks  cruelly  maltreated,  or  sold  to 
warlike  tribes,  in  pure  wantonness  by  white  foreign 
ers.  As  all  white  men  were  the  same  to  the  negroes, 
they  were  apt  to  take  the  first  opportunity  for 
vengeance  that  offered  itself.  In  this  way,  innocent 
men  suffered. 

An  imposing  force,  more  than  sufficient  for  mere 
punishment,  was  determined  upon.  The  Commodore 
had  to  move  with  caution,  and  both  justice  and 
victory  must  be  sure,  as  a  failure  to  awe  would  make 
matters  worse.  His  first  care  was  to  obtain  hostages 

o 

from  the  Bernbees.  In  doing  this  he  was  able  to 
prove  their  guilt.  He  sent  Lieutenant  Stellwagen 
in  the  brig  Porpoise^  disguised  as  a  merchantman,  to 
their  coast.  Only  five  or  six  men,  and  these  in  red 
shirts,  showed  themselves  on  deck.  The  Berribee 
boats  at  once  rushed  out  in  a  shoal  to  capture  the 
harmless  looking  vessel.  As  only  a  sample  of  the 
thieving  humanity  was  needed,  the  Lieutenant, 
satisfied  with  a  good  joke,  refrained  from  opening  his 
guns  on  the  canoes.  After  witnessing  the  seizure  of 
those  first  climbing  over  the  ship's  sides,  and  the 
sudden  resurrection  from  the  hatches  of  his  armed 
crew,  the  other  blacks  scattered  for  the  shore. 

The  squadron,  consisting  of  the  Saratoga,  Mace- 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

donian,  Decatur  and  Porpoise  sailing  from  Mesurado 
on  the  22d  of  November,  cast  anchor  on  the  2Qth  rt 
Sinoe.  This  settlement,  nominally  under  the  care  of 
the  Mississippi  Colonization  Society  had  been  greatly- 
neglected.  The  negroes  from  the  United  States 
were  there,  but  were  little  looked  after.  "Coloniza 
tion,"  in  their  case  meant  simply  good  riddance. 

Landing  with  seventy-five  sailors  and  marines,  the 
procession  moved  to  the  Methodist  Church  edifice  i  i 
which  the  palaver  was  to  be  held.  Before  the 
President  of  Liberia,  Mr.  Roberts,  and  the  Commo 
dore,  with  their  respective  staffs  on  the  one  side,  and 
twenty  "kings"  or  head  men  on  the  other,  the 
murder  of  Captain  Burke's  mate  and  cook  was  dis 
cussed.  It  appeared  that  the  white  man  was  the 
first  aggressor,  and  the  Fishmen  and  not  the  Sinoe 
people  were  the  culprits.  After  listening  patiently 
to  the  black  orators,  the  Commodore  ordered  the 
Fishmen's  town  to  be  burned,  keeping  three  of  them 
as  hostages  to  be  sent  to  Monrovia.  He  advised  the 
settlers  to  build  a  stockade  and  block-house,  assess 
the  expense  in  town  meeting,  and  endeavor  to  en 
force  the  methods  of  self-government  and  protection 
so  well  established  in  the  United  States.  Only  in 
this  way  could  civilization  hold  its  own  against  the 
savages  of  the  bush. 

The  next  point  of  landing  was  Settra  Kroo,  in 
King  Freeman's  dominions.  At  this  place,  the 
force  from  the  boats  stepped  on  shore  at  9  A.  M. 
Before  the  palaver  began,  the  Commodore  heard  a 


THE    BROAD    PENNANT    IN    AFRICA.  1/3 

piece  of  news  that  caused  him  to  hasten  in  person  to 
the  scene  of  the  incident.  Humanity  was  the  first 
duty.  The  pace  of  the  burly  Commodore  was  quick 
ened  to  a  run  as  he  heard  of  the  imminent  danger  of 
an  innocent  victim.  A  wealthy  man  of  one  of  the 
Settra  villages  had  been  accused  of  having  caused 
the  death  of  a  neighbor  by  foul  arts  of  necromancy. 
To  prove  innocence  in  such  a  case,  the  accused  was 
compelled  to  drink  largely  of  sassy-wood  which  made 
a  red  liquid.  In  this  case  the  elect  victim  was  a  hard- 
featured  fellow  of  about  fifty  years  of  age.  His  wealth 
had  excited  envy,  and  avarice  was  doubtless  his  only 
crime.  His  two  wives  with  their  satin-skinned 
babies,  were  in  agony  and  tears  for  the  fate  of  the 
husband  and  father. 

The  natives,  seeing  the  Americans  approach,  and 
suspecting  their  design  of  rescue,  seized  their  victim 
and  paddled  him  in  a  canoe  across  the  lake.  Perry, 
being  told  of  this  circumstance,  on  coming  to  a 
group  of  men  grasped  the  chief,  ordering  the  officers 
to  seize  others  and  hold  them  as  hostages  for  the 
ordeal  man.  The  territory  belonged  to  the  Maryland 
Colonization  Society,  and  the  rites  of  savagery  were 
not  to  be  done  in  view  of  an  American  squadron, 
This  novel  order  of  habeas  corpus  was  obeyed.  After 
some  delay  and  palaver,  the  negroes  restored  the 
victim,  and,  under  the  emetics  and  remedies  of  Dr. 
McGill,  the  man  was  delivered  from  the  power  of 
sassy  and  of  believers  in  its  virtue.  The  squadron 
had  arrived  just  in  time. 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Returning  from  this  lively  episode  with  sharp 
appetites,  the  Commodore  and  party  of  officers  were 
just  about  to  sit  down  to  dinner,  when  an  alarm  gun, 
fired  from  Mount  Tulman,  startled  them.  Almost 
immediately  afterwards  a  messenger,  running  in  hot 
haste,  announced  that  the  wild  natives  from  the  bush 
beyond  were  about  to  force  their  way  to  the  settle 
ment  and  attack  the  colonists.  They  had  mistake  a 
the  salute  to  the  Commodore,  and  thought  that  hostil 
ities  had  already  begun  with  King  Freeman.  The y 
had  come  to  support  the  native  party  and  be  in  at 
the  division  of  the  spoils. 

At  once  the  Commodore  accompanied  by  the 
Governor  and  his  force  marched  through  the  blazing 
sun  four  miles  to  the  scene  of  hostilities.  On  the 
Mount  Tulman,  named  after  a  philanthropic  Balti- 
morean,  they  found  a  picketed  level  space  to  which 
the  civilized  colonists,  men,  women  and  children, 
had  fled  for  refuge.  They  were  defended  by  fifteen 
or  sixteen  men  then  on  the  watch.  The  savage 
natives  had  been  repulsed  and  some  of  them  killed. 

As  there  was  nothing  to  do,  the  party  enjoyed,  for 
a  few  minutes,  the  superb  scenery.  The  village 
beneath,  and  the  white  buildings  of  the  Mount 
Vaughan  Episcopal  mission  glittered  in  the  sun,  and 
the  beach  and  ocean  view  was  grand.  The  descent 
of  the  hill  with  their  belated  dinner  in  view,  was  an 
easy  and  grateful  task. 

At  Cape  Palmas,  or  "  Maryland  in  Africa,"  the 
naval  force  landed  Dec.  Qth,  for  a  palaver  with 


THE    BROAD    PENNANT    IN    AFRICA.  17$ 

twenty-three  "kings"  and  head  men.  The  Commo 
dore  and  Governor,  at  the  usual  table,  were  face  to 
face  with  the  sable  orators,  whose  talking  powers 
were  prodigious.  His  Majesty,  King  Freeman,  was 
a  prepossessing  negro,  who,  in  features,  recalled  to 
the  narrator  Horatio  Bridge,*  Henry  Clay.  The 
interpreter  was  Yellow  Will,  a  voluble  and  amazing 
creature  in  scarlet  and  Mazarin-yellow  lace. 

The  substance  of  the  palaver  was  the  request  that 
King  Freeman  should,  for  the  good  of  the  American 
colonists,  remove  his  capital.  The  meeting  was  ad 
journed  to  re-assemble  in  the  royal  kraal  or  city  two 
days  later.  On  December  11,  twelve  armed  boats 
were  sent  ashore  from  three  ships.  The  feat  of  land 
ing  in  the  surf  was  accomplished  after  several  ridicu 
lous  tumbles  and  considerable  wetting  from  the 
spray. 

On  shore  there  were  about  fifty  natives  in  waiting, 
as  an  escort  to  the  palaver  house.  These  braves 
were  armed  with  various  weapons,  muskets  guiltless 
of  polish,  iron  war  spears,  huge  wooden  fish-harpoons, 
and  broad  knives. 

The  royal  capital  was  a  palisaded  village  in  the 
centre  of  which  was  the  palaver  house.  Most  of  the 
male  warriors  were  out  of  sight,  evidently  in  ambush 
while  the  women  and  piccanninnies  were  in  "the 
bush."  Some  delay  occurred  in  the  silent  town, 
while  arrangements  were  perfected  by  his  Majesty. 

*  Journal  of  an  African  Cruiser,  edited  by  Nathaniel  Haw 
thorne. 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

By  orders  of  the  wary  Commodore,  marines  were 
posted  at  the  gates  as  sentinels,  while  the  military 
forces  of  either  side  were  marched  to  opposite  ends 
of  the  town.  The  parties  to  the  controversy  being 
seated,  Governor  Roberts  spoke  concerning  the  mur 
der  of  Captain  Carver.  The  towns  along  the  beach 
governed  by  King  Crack-O  were  implicated.  They 
shared  in  the  plunder,  the  cargo  of  the  ship  being 
worth  twelve  thousand  dollars.  The  evil  results  were 
great,  inasmuch  as  all  tribes  on  the  coast  wanted  to 
"catch"  foreign  vessels. 

His  Majesty,  King  Crack-O,  was  a  monstrous  fellow 
of  sinister  expression.  He  wore  a  gorgeous  robe  and 
a  short  curved  sword  resembling  the  cleaver  used  by 
Chicago  pork-packers.  The  blade  of  this  weapon  was 
six  inches  wide.  He  made  a  rather  defiant  reply  to 
President  Robert's  charges,  denying  all  participation 
in  the  matter.  Touching  his  ears  and  tongue  sym 
bolically  to  his  sword,  he  signified  his  willingness  to 
attend  the  great  Palaver  at  Berribee. 

At  the  Commodore's  suggestion,  he  was  invited  on 
board  the  flagship  with  the  object  of  impressing  him 
with  the  force  at  command  of  the  whites. 

During  the  embarkation,  several  funny  scenes 
occurred.  All  the  villagers,  men,  women  and  chil 
dren,  came  to  see  the  canoes  set  off,  many  of  which 
were  repeatedly  upset,  and  the  passengers  tossed  into 
the  water  and  soused.  There  was  little  dignity,  but 
no  end  of  fun,  in  getting  from  shore  to  ship. 

The  next  meeting  was  appointed  at  Little  Berribee,. 


THE    BROAD    PENNANT    IN    AFRICA.  177 

because  the  great  palaver  for  the  division  of  the  spoil 
of  the  Mary  Carver,  had  been  held  at  this  place.  It 
was  hoped  some  exact  information  would  be  gained. 
The  line  of  boats  leaving  the  flagship  December  13, 
moved  to  the  shore,  and  the  march  was  begun  to  the 
village.  The  palaver  house  was  about  fifty  yards 
from  the  town  gate  inside  the  palisades,  and  King 
Ben  Crack-O's  long  iron  spear,  with  a  blade  like  a 
trowel,  was,  with  other  weapons,  laid  aside  before  the 
palaver  began  ;  but  arrayed  in  his  gorgeous  robes, 
the  strapping  warrior,  evidently  spoiling  for  a  fight, 
took  his  seat,  having  well  "coached"  his  interpreter. 

After  the  Governor  spoke,  the  native  interpreter 
began.  He  quickly  impressed  the  American  officers 
and  the  Liberian  Governor  as  a  voluminous  but  un 
skillful  liar,  and  himself  as  one  of  the  most  guilty  of 
the  thieves.  His  tergiversations  soon  became  impu 
dent  and  manifest,  and  his  lies  seemed  to  fall  with  a 
thump.  The  Governor,  had  repeatedly  warned  him 
in  vain.  At  last,  the  Commodore,  losing  patience, 
rose  up  and  hastily  stepping  toward  the  villain  sternly 
warned  him  to  lie  no  more. 

Instantly  the  interpreter,  losing  courage,  bolted  out 
of  the  house  and  started  on  a  run  for  the  woods. 
Perry  quickly  noticing  that  King  Crack-O  was  medi 
tating  treachery,  moved  towards  him.  The  black 
king's  courage  was  equal  to  his  power  of  lying  and 
treachery.  He  seized  the  burly  form  of  the  Commo 
dore,  and  attempted  to  drag  him  off  where  stood,  on 
its  butt,  his  iron  spear.  It  was  already  notched  with 


1/8  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

twelve  indentations  —  in  token  of  the  number  of  men 
killed  with  it. 

His  black  majesty  had  caught  a  Tartar !  The  burly 
Commodore  was  not  easy  to  handle.  Perry  hurled  him 
away  from  the  direction  of  the  stacked  arms,  and  be 
fore  he  had  more  than  got  out  of  the  house,  a  sergeant 
of  the  marines  shot  the  king,  while  the  sergeant's 
comrades  bayonetted  him. 

In  the  struggle,  the  king  had  caught  his  foot  in  the 
skirts  of  his  own  robe  and  he  was  speedily  left  naked. 
Spite  of  the  ball  and  two  bayonet  wounds  he  fouglr; 
like  a  tiger,  and  the  two  or  three  men  who  attempted 
to  hold  his  writhing  form  needed  all  their  strength  to 
make  him  a  prisoner.  His  muscular  power  was 
prodigious,  but  their  gigantic  prize  was  finally  secured, 
bound,  and  carried  to  the  beach.  The  interpreter  was 
shot  dead  while  running,  the  ball  entering  his  neck. 

The  palaver,  thus  broken  up,  suddenly  changed 
into  a  melee  in  which  the  marines  and  blue-jackets 
began  irregular  firing  on  the  natives,  in  spite  of  the 
Commodore's  orders  to  refrain.  The  two-hundred  or 
more  blacks  scattered  to  the  woods,  along  the  beach 
and  even  into  the  sea,  some  escaping  by  canoes. 

As  the  real  culprits  had  mostly  escaped,  the  Com 
modore  ordered  the  town  to  be  fired.  Our  sailors 
forced  the  palisades  or  crept  between  the  gates. 
Meeting  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  they  gave  three 
cheers  and  then  applied  the  torch.  In  fifteen  min 
utes  the  whole  capital,  built  of  wattles  and  mud  was 
on  fire,  and  in  little  over  a  half  hour  a  level  waste. 


THE    BROAD    PENNANT    IN    AFRICA.  1/9 

The  blacks,  from  the  edge  of  the  woods,  opened 
fire  on  the  Americans.  With  incredibly  bad  aim, 
they  shot  at  the  blue-jackets  with  rusty  muskets 
loaded  with  copper  slugs  made  out  of  the  bolts  of  the 
Mary  Carver.  From  one  pile  of  camwood,  the  fire  of 
the  rascals  was  so  near,  that  Captain  Mayo's  face  was 
burned  with  their  powder,  so  that  he  carried  the 
marks  to  his  grave.  Little  harm  was  done  by  the 
copper  shower.  Our  men  charged  into  the  bush,  and 
presently  the  ships  opened  fire  on  the  woods,  and  the 
little  war  with  the  heathen  ended  for  the  day. 

Among  the  trophies  recovered  in  the  town,  was 
a  United  States  flag,  articles  from  the  Mary  Car 
ver,  and  several  war  canoes.  The  king's  spear,  made 
of  a  central  shaft  of  wood  with  iron  butt  and  top 
and  the  blade  heart-shaped,  was  kept  by  the  Com 
modore,  and  now  adorns  the  collection  of  his  son- 
in-law. 

Embarkation  was  then  made  to  the  ships,  where 
King  Crack-O  died  next  morning  at  eight  o'clock. 

On  the  1 5th,  as  the  boats  moved  off  at  7  p.  M., 
to  a  point  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  below  Berribee, 
they  were  fired  on  by  the  natives  when  near  the 
shore.  The  boat's  crew  and  three  marines  dashed 
ashore,  and  charged  the  enemy.  The  landing  was 
then  made  in  good  order,  the  line  formed  and  the 
march  begun  to  the  town.  The  palisades  were  at 
once  cut  through,  and  the  houses  set  on  fire. 
While  this  was  being  done,  the  blacks  in  the 
woods  were  sounding  war-horns,  bells  and  gongs, 


ISO  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

which  the  buzzards,  at  least,  understood,  for  they 
soon  appeared  flying  in  expectation  of  a  feast. 

A  further  march  up  the  beach  of  a  mile  and  a 
half  brought  the  force  to  a  line  of  palisades  behind 
which  were  thirty  or  forty  natives.  The  boat- 
keepers  rowing  along  the  line  of  march,  were  en 
abled  to  see  that  these  were  armed  and  ready  to 
fire.  Halting  at  forty  yards  distance,  the  marines 
and  blue-jackets  charged  on  a  run,  giving  the 
blacks  only  time  to  fire  a  few  shots  and  then  break 
for  cover.  This  they  could  easily  do,  as  the  woods 
reached  nearly  to  the  water's  edge.  After  search 
ing  for  articles  from  the  Mary  Carver,  this  third 
town  was  burned,  and  then  the  men  sat  down  to 
dinner.  Another  town  three  miles  further  up  the 
beach  was  likewise  visited  and  left  in  ashes.  All 
day  long  the  men  were  hard  at  work  and  in  con 
stant  danger  from  the  whistling  copper,  but  the 
only  bodily  members  in  danger  seemed  to  be  their 
ears,  for  the  blacks  were  utterly  unable  either  to 
aim  straight  or  to  fire  low.  The  men  enjoyed  the 
excitement  hugely,  and  only  two  of  them  were 
wounded.  The  eight  or  ten  cattle  captured  and 
the  relics  of  the  Mary  Carver,  were  taken  on 
board. 

On  the  1 6th  at  daylight,  the  ships  raised  anchor 
and  proceeded  to  Great  Berribee.  White  flags  were 
hoisted  in  token  of  amity.  The  king  came  on 
board  the  flag-ship,  and  a  " treaty"  in  which  pro 
tection  to  American  seamen  was  guaranteed  was 


THE    BROAD    PENNANT    IN    AFRICA.  l8l 

made.  Gifts  were  exchanged,  and  the  five  Berribee 
prisoners  released. 

The  effect  of  this  powder  and  ball  policy  so 
necessary,  and  so  judiciously  administered,  was 
soon  apparent  along  a  thousand  miles  of  coast. 
By  fleet  runners  carrying  the  news,  it  was  known 
at  Cape  Palmas  when  the  squadron  arrived  there 
on  the  2Oth.  The  degree  of  retribution  inflicted 
by  no  means  exceeded  what  the  original  outrage 
demanded.  According  to  the  well-understood  African 
law,  the  whole  of  the  guilty  tribe  must  suffer  when 
the  murderers  have  not  been  delivered  up.  The 
example,  a  peremptory  necessity  at  the  moment, 
was,  for  a  long  time,  salutary  ;  the  American  ves 
sels  not  only  experienced  the  good  effect,  but  the 
event  had  a  powerful  influence  in  the  native 
palavers. 

A  year  or  so  later,  the  king  and  headmen  of 
Berribee,  visited  Lieutenant  Craven  in  the  Por 
poise.  The  people  had  begun  to  make  farms,  and 
cultivate  the  soil.  They  were  very  anxious  to  see 
Commodore  Perry,  "  to  talk  one  big  palaver,  pay 
plenty  bullock,  no  more  fight  white  man,  and  to 
get  permission  to  build  their  town  again  on  the 
beach."  The  Lieutenant  reported  the  effect  on  all 
tribes  as  highly  salutary,  even  as  far  as  fifteen  or 
twenty  miles  in  the  interior.  The  Missionaries, 
the  Reverend  and  Mrs.  Payne  whose  lives  had  been 
threatened,  and  their  schools  broken  up  by  the 
wild  blacks,  were  now  enjoying  friendly  intercourse 


1 82  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

with  the  natives  and  suffered  no  more  annoyance. 
He  also  received  the  warm  approval  of  the  other 
missionaries  on  the  coast,  both  Roman  Catholic  as 
well  as  Protestant,  as  well  as  of  Governor  Russ- 
worm,  of  the  Maryland  Colony.  The  Reverend 
James  Kelly,  of  the  Catholic  Mission,  in  a  letter, 
said  of  Perry,  "His  services  were  tendered  in  a 
way  decidedly  American  —  without  ostentation  — 
yet  carrying  effect  in  every  quarter." 

This  systematic  punishment,  after  examination, 
and  the  certainty  that  the  stripes  were  laid  on  the 
right  back  was  a  new  thing  to  the  blacks.  The 
Berribee  affair  is  remembered  to  this  day.  During 
the  forty  years  now  gone,  anything  like  the  Mary 
Carver  affair  has  never  been  repeated.  The  coast 
was  made  safe,  and  commerce  increased. 

On  the  25th,  the  Commodore  arrived  at  Monro 
via,  and  on  the  28th,  sailed  for  Porto  Praya,  and 
later  for  Funchal,  where  he  found  the  inhabitants 
bitterly  complaining  that  the  American  taste  for 
other  wines  had  greatly  injured  the  trade  in  Maderia. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

PERRY    AS    A    MISSIONARY    AND    CIVILIZER. 

PERRY,  in  his  report  written  Jan.  21,  1844,  on  the 
settlements  established  by  the  Colonization  Society 
expresses  the  feelings  that  came  over  him  as  he  gazed 
on  Cape  Mesurado  (Montserrado)  after  a  lapse  of 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century.  When,  as  first  Lieu 
tenant  on  the  Cyane,  he  first  looked  upon  the  site  of 
Monrovia,  the  beautiful  promontory  was  covered  with 
dense  forests,  of  which  the  wild  beasts  were  the  only 
occupants.  On  this,  his  third  visit,  he  found  a  thriv 
ing  town  full  of  happy  people.  Churches,  school- 
houses,  missionary  establishments,  a  court-house,  prin 
ting-presses  and  ware-houses,  vessels  at  anchor  in  the 
harbor,  made  a  scene  to  delight  the  eyes.  Though 
there  were  farms  and  clearings,  the  people,  he  noticed, 
preferred  trade  to  agriculture.  While  many  were  poor, 
many  also  were  rich,  and  all  were  comfortable.  He 
considered  that  upon  the  whole  the  experiment  of  col 
onization  of  the  free  blacks  of  the  United  States  was 
a  success.  More  settlements,  a  line  of  them  on  the 
coast,  were  however  needed  to  enable  the  colonist  to 
assist  in  suppressing  the  slave-trade,  to  encourage  the 
civilized  natives,  and  to  increase  commerce. 

Monrovia,  so  named  in  honor  of  President  James 
Monroe,  at  this  time  contained  five  hundred  houses 


184  MATTHEW    CALBRAITIL     PERRY. 

with  five  churches  and  several  schools.    The  Sunday- 
schools  were  conducted  like  those  in  New  England. 

The  flag  of  Liberia  contained  stripes  and  a  cross, 
emblems  of  the  United  States  and  Christian  philaii- 
throphy.  The  flag  of  the  Liberian  Confederation  is 
now  a  single  white  star  on  a  square  blue  field  wit  i 
stripes.  Its  twelve  thousand  square  miles  of  territory- 
contain  twenty  thousand  colored  people  from  the 
United  States,  five  thousand  "Congos"  or  recapture  1 
slaves,  and  eight  hundred  thousand  aborigines. 

At  that  time,  the  various  settlements  under  the 
care  of  the  American  Colonization  Society  were  sep 
arate  petty  colonies  or  governments  and  not,  as  no\\, 
united  into  one  republic  of  Liberia.  Perry  was,  at 
first,  puzzled  to  know  his  exact  relations  to  the  gov 
ernors  of  Monrovia  and  Cape  Palmas,  who  styled 
themselves  ''Agents  of  the  United  States."  While 
eager  to  assist  them  in  every  way,  he  yet  knew  it  his 
duty  to  refrain  from  anything  calculated  to  give  them 
a  wrong  impression. 

There  was  to  be  no  deviation  from  the  settled  policy 
of  the  United  States  not  to  hold  colonies  abroad.  The 
political  connection  between  the  United  States  and 
Liberia,  the  only  colonial  enterprise  ever  undertaken 
by  our  country,  was  but  a  silken  thread.  The  aim  of 
our  government  seemed  to  be  to  honor  the  rising 
negro  republic,  to  protect  American  trade  and  mis 
sionaries,  and  to  overawe  the  elements  of  violence 
among  the  savages,  so  as  to  give  the  nascent  civiliza 
tion  on  the  coast  a  fair  chance  of  life.  In  this  spirit, 
Perry  performed  faithfully  his  delicate  duties. 


A    MISSIONARY    AND    CIVILIZER.  185 

It  was  noted  by  the  naval  officers  that  the  freedmen 
from  America  looked  down  upon  the  natives  as  sav 
ages,  and  were  horrified  at  their  heathenism  and 
nudity.  The  unblushing  display  of  epidermis  all 
around  them  shocked  their  feelings.  Each  African 
lady  was  a  literal  Flora  McFlrmsey  "  with  nothing  to 
wear."  In  building  their  houses,  the  settlers  followed 
rather  the  model  of  domestic  architecture  below  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line  than  that  above  it.  The  excellent 
feature  of  having  the  kitchen  separate  from  the  dwell 
ing  was  transported  to  "Maryland  in  Africa,"  as  in 
"the  old  Kentucky  home." 

The  colored  missionaries  were  having  encouraging 
success.  The  pastor  at  Millsburg,  a  town  named  after 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Mills,  one  of  the  first  missionaries  from 
the  United  States,  was  a  fine,  manly  looking  person. 
One  of  the  settlers  was  an  Indian  negro,  formerly  a 
steward  on  Commodore  McDonough's  ship  and  pres 
ent  at  the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain.  He  afterwards 
removed  to  Sierra  Leone  to  afford  his  daughters,  who 
were  dressmakers,  better  opportunities. 

Edina  and  Bassa  Cove  were  settlements  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Colonization  Societies  of  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania.  The  Maryland  colony  was  at  Cape 
Pal  mas,  that  of  Mississippi  at  Sinoe,  while  another 
settlement  was  named  New  Georgia.  The  freed  slaves, 
remembering  the  labors  in  the  cotton  fields  under  the 
American  overseer,  could  not  easily  rid  themselves  of 
their  old  associations  with  mother  earth.  Labor  spent 
in  tilling  the  soil  seemed  to  be  personal  degradation. 


1 86  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PRRRY. 

To  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow  and 
the  toil  of  their  back  in  the  new  land  of  freedom 
was,  to  them,  so  nearly  the  same  as  slavery  that  they 
utterly  forsook  it,  and  resorted  to  small  trade  with  the 
men  of  the  beach  or  deck.  In  the  bush,  imitating  the 
Yankees,  whom  they  had  been  taught  to  abhor,  theA- 
peddled  English  slave  goods  manufactured  at  Bir 
mingham  for  ivory  and  oil.  In  dress  they  followed 
out  the  customs  of  their  masters  at  home,  copying  o* 
parodying  the  latest  fashion  plates  from  New  York, 
Philadelphia  or  London.  In  church,  many  silk  dresses 
would  be  both  seen  and  heard  among  the  women. 

Serious  drawbacks  to  successful  colonization  existed. 
Among  the  freed  slaves  the  women  were  in  the  pro 
portion  to  men  three  and  a  half  to  one.  Even  the 
adult  males  were  like  children,  having  been  just  re 
leased  from  slavery,  with  little  power  of  foresight  or 
self  reliance.  The  jealousy  felt  by  the  black  rulers 
toward  the  white  missionaries  was  great,  while  hea 
thenism  was  bold,  defiant  and,  aggressive. 

American  black  men  could  be  easily  acclimated, 
while  the  whites  were  sure  to  die  if  they  persisted  in 
a  residence.  The  strain  on  the  constitution  of  a  white 
man  during  one  year  on  the  African  station  equalled 
that  of  five  or  six  years  on  any  other.  Most  of  the 
British  officers  made  it  a  rule  of  "kill  or  cure,"  and, 
on  first  coming  out  on  the  station,  slept  on  shore  to 
decide  quickly  the  question.  It  was  almost  certain 
death  for  a  white  person  unacclimated  to  sleep  a  night 
exposed  to  the  baleful  influence  of  the  land  miasma. 


A    MISSIONARY    AND    CIVILIZER.  1 8/ 

Perry  as  a  lieutenant,  when  without  instruction,  did 
the  best  he  could  to  save  the  men  from  exposure. 
He  avoided  the  sickly  localities  and  took  great  precau 
tions.  Hence  there  was  no  death  on  the  Shark  in 
two  years,  though,  besides  visiting  Africa,  all  the 
sickly  ports  in  the  West  Indies,  the  Spanish  Main  and 
Mexico  were  entered.  Now,  a  Commodore,  while 
cruising  off  "the  white  man's  grave,"  Perry  made  the 
health  of  his  men  his  first  consideration.  When  on 
the  Fulton  in  New  York,  he  had  been  called  upon  by 
the  Department  to  express  his  views  at  length  upon 
the  best  methods  of  preserving  life  and  health  on  the 
Africa  station.  Possessing  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer, 
amid  the  press  of  his  other  duties,  he  wrote  out  an 
exhaustive  and  readable  report  of  twelve  pages  in 
clear  English  and  in  his  best  style. 

This  epitome  of  naval  life  is  full  and  minute  in 
directions.  The  methods  followed  in  the  Shark, 
with  improvements  suggested  by  experience,  were 
now  vigorously  enforced  on  all  the  ships  of  the 
squadron.  The  men  were  brought  up  on  deck  and 
well  soused,  carefully  wiped,  dried,  warmed  and,  willy- 
nilly,  swathed  in  woolens.  Stoves  were  lighted 
amidships,  and  the  anthracite  glowed  in  the  hold, 
throwing  a  dry,  anti-mouldy  heat  which  was  most 
grateful  amid  the  torrid  rains  and  tropical  steam 
baths.  Fans,  pumps,  and  bellows,  plied  in  every 
corner,  drove  out  the  foul  air  that  lurked  like  demons 
in  dark  places.  All  infection  was  quickly  banished 
by  the  smudges,  villainous  in  smell  but  wholesome 
in  effect,  that  smoked  out  all  vermin  and  miasma. 


1 88  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

The  sailors  at  first  growled  fiercely,  though  some 
from  the  outset  laughed  at  what  seemed  to  them 
blank  and  blanked  nonsense,  but  their  maledictions 
availed  with  the  Commodore  no  more  than  a  tinker' J-. 
Gradually  they  began  to  like  scrub  and  broom  drill, 
and  finally  they  enjoyed  the  game,  becoming  as 
hilarious  as  Dutch  housemaids  on  cleaning  da). 
Spite  of  the  nightly  rains,  the  ships  in  their  interiors 
were  never  mouldy,  but  ever  fresh,  dry,  and  clean. 
Health  on  board  was  nearly  perfect. 

In  his  own  way,  the  vigilant  Commodore  fought 
and  drove  off  the  scorbutic  wolf  with  broadsides  of 
onions  and  potatoes,  and  kept  his  men  in  superb 
physical  condition  and  his  staff  unbroken,  while 
British  officers  died  by  the  score,  and  left  their  bones 
in  the  white  man's  grave.  After  the  dinner  parties 
and  entertainments  on  shore,  the  American  officers 
left  promptly  at  eight  o'clock  so  as  to  avoid  night 
exposure. 

Long  immunity  from  sickness  at  length  began  to 
breed  carelessness  in  some  of  the  ships,  when  away 
from  the  eye  of  the  Commodore.  In  one  instance 
the  results  were  heart-rending.  The  wild  blacks  in 
1843  made  an  attack  upon  Bissas,  a  Portugese 
settlement  on  the  coast  south  of  the  Gambia  river, 
incurring  the  loss  of  much  American  property.  The 
Commodore  dispatched  Lieutenant  Freelon  in  the 
Preble  to  help  the  garrison  and  prevent  a  further 
attack  from  the  hostile  natives. 

The  Preble  went  up  the  river  on  which  the  settle- 


A    MISSIONARY    AND    CIVILIZER.  189 

ment  was  situated,  and  anchored  there  for  thirteen 
days.  Out  of  her  crew  of  one  hundred  and  forty-four 
men,  ninety  were  attacked  by  fever.  The  ship,  from 
being  first  a  floating  hospital,  became  a  coffin,  from 
which  nineteen  bodies  were  consigned  to  the  deep. 
The  plague-stricken  vessel  with  her  depleted  crew 
arrived  at  Porto  Praya,  and,  to  the  grief  of  the  Com 
modore,  there  was  an  added  cause  of  regret. 

The  ship's  commander  and  the  surgeon  had  quar 
reled  as  to  the  causes  of  the  outbreak  of  the  pesti 
lence.  The  lieutenant  stoutly  maintained  that  the 
outbreak  was  owing  to  "  the  pestilential  character  of 
the  African  coast,  and  the  Providence  of  God."  The 
surgeon,  taking  a  less  pseudo-pious,  more  prosaic  but 
truer  view,  laid  it  to  nearer  and  easily  visible  causes. 
The  acrid  correspondence  between  cabin  and  sick  bay 
was  laid  before  Perry.  He  read,  with  much  pain,  of 
the  "insults,"  "lies,"  and  other  crimes  of  tongue  or 
pen  mutually  shed  out  of  the  ink  bottles  of  the  re 
spective  literary  belligerents.  Kellogg,  the  surgeon, 
asked  the  Commodore  for  an  investigation.  As 
Perry  did  not  think  it  wise  at  that  time  either  to 
withdraw  the  officers  from  survey  duty,  or  to  endanger 
the  convalescents  by  keeping  the  Preble  near  shore, 
he  ordered  the  infected  vessel  out  to  sea. 

One  can  easily  imagine  with  whose  opinions  Perry 
sympathized,  as  he  read  the  documents  in  the  case. 
Perry  never  even  suspected  that  religion  and  science 
needed  any  reconciliation,  both  being  to  him  forms 
of  the  same  duty  of  man.  In  narrating  the  actual 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

occurrences  at  Bissas,  the  surgeon  showed  that  most 
of  Perry's  hygienic  rules  had  been  systematically 
broken.  The  Preble,  for  thirteen  days,  was  anchored 
within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  shore,  exposed  to  the 
exhalations  of  a  bank  of  mud  left  bare  by  the  ebb-tide 
and  exposed  to  the  rays  of  a  vertical  sun.  At  nigh:, 
the  men  were  allowed  to  sleep  out  on  deck  with  the 
miasma-laden,  breezes  from  the  swamps  blowing  ovc  r 
them.  While  painting  the  ship,  the  crew  were 
exposed  to  the  sun's  glare.  They  were  sent  day  and 
night  to  assist  the  garrison  of  Bissas,  and,  in  two 
cases,  returned  from  sporting  excursions  fatigued  and 
wet.  The  first  case  of  fever  began  on  the  5th,  and 
the  disease  was  fully  developed  in  fourteen  days. 
The  sad  results  of  the  visit  of  the  Prcblc  up  the 
miasmatic  river  were  soon  manifest  in  scores  of  dead. 
Perry's  grief  at  the  loss  of  so  many  valuable  lives 
was  as  keen  as  his  vexation  was  great,  because  it 
was  unnecessary  and  inexcusable. 

In  two  other  instances  also  the  energy  and  prompt 
ness  of  the  Commodore  proved  the  saving  of  many 
lives.  One  of  our  ships  put  into  Porto  Praya,  with 
African  fever  on  board  and  short  of  water.  The 
water  of  Porto  Praya,  being  unfit  for  sick  persons, 
Perry  at  once  supplied  her  tanks  from  the  flag  ship. 
Then  quickly  sailing  to  Porto  Grande,  he  returned 
promptly  with  fresh  relief  for  the  stricken  men. 
Another  vessel  being  short  of  medicines,  the  Commo 
dore  proceeded  with  the  flag-ship  to  the  French 
settlement  of  Goree,  immediately  returning  with 


A    MISSIONARY    AND    CIVILIZER.  IQI 

quinine.  His  celerity  at  once  checked  the  death 
list  and  multiplied  convalescents. 

Within  the  cruising  ground  prescribed  for  the 
African  squadron,  it  was  found  that  there  was  not 
a  suitably  enclosed  burial  place  for  the  officers  and 
sailors  who  might  die.  Men-of-war  and  merchant 
sailors  had  been  thrown  overboard  or  buried  in  dif 
ferent  spots  here,  there,  and  everywhere,  on  beaches 
just  above  high  water  mark,  on  arid  plains  and  on 
barren  bluffs.  So  prevalent  was  the  refusal,  by 
Portuguese,  of  the  rites  of  burial  to  Protestant 
sailors,  that  it  was  their  custom  to  have  a  cross 
tattooed  on  their  arms  so  that  when  dead  they 
might  get  sepulture. 

The  reason  for  this  sporadic  burial  of  our  men 
must  be  laid  at  the  doors  of  bigotry.  In  some 
parts  of  Christendom,  even  among  enlightened 
nations,  where  political  churches  are  established, 
there  lingers  a  heathenish  relic  of  superstitious 
sectarianism  under  the  garb  of  the  Christian  relig 
ion,  in  what  is  called  "consecrated  ground."  By 
this  pretext  of  holiness,  the  sectaries  logically  carry 
into  the  grave  the  feuds  and  hatreds  born  of  the 
very  wickedness  from  which  by  their  creeds  and 
ritual  they  expect  to  be  saved.  This  feeling  is  in 
southern  Europe  and  the  papal  colonies,  so  inten 
sified  that  it  is  next  to  impossible  for  a  man  deny 
ing  the  Roman  faith  to  obtain  burial  in  a  cemetery 
governed  by  adherents  of  the  Pope.  Even  the 
semi-civilized  Portuguese  refused  to  give  interment 


IQ2  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

to  American  officers  in  what  they  denominate 
"consecrated  ground." 

This  gave  Perry  an  opportunity  to  establish  a 
burial  place  for  the  American  dead  of  every  creed. 
In  the  words  of  the  bluff  sailor,  after  referring  to 
the  fact  that  "  Catholics"  do  not  like  ''Protestants" 
in  their  grounds,  he  says,  "  With  us  the  same  spirit 
of  intolerance  shall  not  prevail,  and  in  our  United 
States  Cemetery  the  remains  of  Jew  and  Gentile, 
Catholic  and  Protestant  will  be  laid  in  peace  to 
gether." 

Accordingly,  the  cemetery  for  the  dead  of  the 
Preble  was  prepared  at  Porto  Grande.  A  plot  of 
land  having  been  purchased,  was  given  in  fee  by 
the  authorities.  It  was  duly  graded,  and  a  stone 
wall  seven  feet  high  erected  to  enclose  it,  and  thus 
protect  it  from  the  wash  of  rains  and  the  trespas 
ses  of  vagrant  animals.  Timber  for  headboards 
was  furnished  from  the  ship,  and  the  amount  of 
two  hundred  dollars  for  expenses  incurred  was  sub 
scribed  by  the  officers  and  men. 

The  governor  of  the  island  of  Santa  lago  was 
ordered  by  the  general  government  to  give  a  legal 
title  to  a  cemetery  for  "persons  not  Catholics." 
The  burial  ground  plotted  out  by  the  Commodore 
adjoined  the  other  village  cemetery  at  the  same 
place  called  "The  Cocoanuts."  The  three  new 
walls  enclosing  it  were  respectively  one  hundred 
by  one  hundred  by  ninety-four  feet.  The  width  of 
the  wall  masonry  was  three  "palms"  or  twenty- 


A    MISSIONARY    AND    CIVILIZER.  IQ3 

seven  inches,  and  the  foundation  was  to  be  three- 
fourths  of  a  yard  deep.  In  this  true  God's  acre, 
more  truly  consecrated  by  the  christening  of  Chris 
tian  charity  than  the  bigot's  benison,  Perry  was  glad 
to  permit  also  the  burial  of  some  British  sailors.  In 
a  letter  of  thanks  from  Commodore  W.  Jones,  of  her 
Britannic  Majesty's  squadron,  the  latter  writes  of  the 
cemetery  at  Porto  Grande,  "  In  which  you  kindly 
permitted  the  interment  of  such  British  seamen  as 
would  have  had  their  remains  excluded  from  the 
(Roman)  Catholic  cemeteries  at  those  places." 

"  It  seems  hard  that  Englishmen  should  thus  be 
indebted  to  the  charity  of  strangers  for  a  little  Portu 
guese  earth  to  cover  them.  It  is  a  consolation  that, 
in  countries  where  superstition  so  far  cancels  grati 
tude  and  Christian  feeling,  that  the  noblest  grave  of 
a  seaman,  and  in  my  opinion  far  the  most  preferable, 
is  always  at  hand." 

Relieved  by  Commodore  Skinner,  Perry  arrived  in 
the  Macedonian,  off  Sandy  Hook,  April  28,  1845. 

During  his  service  on  this  station,  Perry  exhibited 
his  usual  energy  and  patriotism  in  being  ever  sensi 
tive  to  the  honor  of  the  flag,  the  navy  and  his  country. 
In  the  exercise  of  his  duty,  he  was  frequently  drawn 
into  situations  which  evoked  sharp  controversies  with 
the  magistrates  and  officials  of  different  nationalities 
in  regard  to  restrictions  in  their  ports,  certain  cere 
monies,  salutes,  and  minutiae  of  etiquette.  With 
practiced  pen,  this  American  sailor,  a  loving  reader  of 
Addison,  showed  himself  a  master  in  diplomacy  and 


IQ4  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

the  art  of  expression.  Uniting  to  the  bluff  ingenu 
ousness  of  a  sailor,  something  of  the  polish  of  a  cour 
tier,  he  almost  invariably  gained  the  advantage,  and 
came  off  the  best  man.  His  conduct  in  delicate  mat 
ters  evoked  the  praise  of  both  the  American  and 
English  governments. 

The  American  commanders  on  the  African  coast 
were  too  much  handicapped  by  their  instructions  to 
be  equally  successful  with  the  British  cruisers  against 
the  slavers.  Claiming  the  right  of  visitation  and 
search,  the  Englishmen  boarded  all  suspicious  vessels 
except  the  American,  and  broke  up  the  slave  depots. 
The  American  men-of-war,  in  the  actual  work  of  de 
stroying  the  slave  traffic,  formed  rather  a  sentimental 
squadron,  "chasing  shadows  in  a  deadly  climate." 

The  insatiable  demand  of  Cuba  for  slaves  made 
man-stealing  and  selling  profitable,  even  if  the  specula 
tors  in  human  flesh  lost  four  cargoes  out  of  every  five. 
Most  of  the  masters  of  barracoons  were  Spaniards, 
and  some  were  college-bred  men,  with  harems  and 
splendid  mansions.  The  price  of  a  slave  on  the  coast 
was  $30,  while  in  Cuba  it  was  $300.  Blanco  White, 
who  had  a  fleet  of  one  hundred  vessels,  barracoons  as 
large  as  Chicago  stock-yards,  and  a  trade  of  eight 
thousand  human  carcasses  a  year,  lost  in  one  year  by 
capture,  eight  vessels.  As  he  recovered  insurance 
on  all  of  them,  his  loss  was  slight.  The  business  of 
slave  export,  like  that  of  the  Nassau  blockade-runners 
during  our  civil  war,  had  in  it  plenty  of  gain,  some 
lively  excitement,  but  little  or  no  danger.  Decoys 


A    MISSIONARY    AND    CIVILIZER.  IQ5 

were  commonly  used.  While  a  gunboat  was  giving 
chase  to  some  old  tub  of  a  vessel,  with  fifty  diseased 
or  worn-out  slaves  on  board,  a  clipper-ship  with  several 
hundred  in  her  hold,  with  loaded  cannon  to  sweep  the 
decks  in  case  of  mutiny,  and  with  manacles  for  the 
refractory,  would  dash  out  of  her  hiding-place  among 
the  mangroves  and  scud  across  the  open  sea  to  Cuba 
or  Brazil. 

During  Perry's  stay  on  the  African  coast,  the 
French  had  a  squadron  of  eleven  vessels,  and  the 
British  a  fleet  of  thirty,  eleven  of  which  were  steam 
ers.  The  other  Powers  were  willing  to  save  their 
cash,  and  allowed  the  British  to  spend  their  money 
and  do  the  work.  The  French  capturing  not  one 
prize,  turned  their  attention  to  seizing  territory. 
Their  policy  in  Africa,  as  in  Asia,  was  an  attempt  to 
make  new  nations  by  means  of  priests  and  soldiers. 
It  began  with  brandy,  progressed  with  bombardment, 
and  wound  up  with  military  occupation.  The  begin- 
ing  of  their  African  possessions  was  the  seizure  of 
Gaboon,  where  in  1842,  five  American  missionaries 
had  begun  labor.  By  limitation  of  his  orders,  Perry 
was  unable  to  do  anything  in  the  case,  though  notify 
ing  the  Department  of  the  facts  and  the  danger. 

A  French  critic  writing  in  1884,  of  French  "ex 
pansion,"  "prestige,"  and  "civilization,"  in  their 
so-called  possessions,  mostly  in  the  torrid  zone, 
speaks  of  this  system  of  "artificial  hatching,  which 
was  to  produce  a  swarming  brood  of  little  French 
men."  "  We  see,"  says  he,  "  the  broken  eggs,  but 
find  neither  omelette  nor  chicks." 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

At  present,  in  1887,  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  valu 
able  as  affording  gateways  into  the  interior,  is  owned 
as  follows  :  by  England,  1300  miles  ;  by  Portugal,  800 
miles;  by  Liberia,  350  miles;  by  Germany,  750 
miles  ;  by  natives,  900  miles.  Missionary  stations 
now  occupy  many  of  the  old  slave-marts.  By  faith 
and  knowledge,  prayer  and  quinine,  the  white  man  is 
making  the  dark  continent  light.  Ethiopia  is  lifting 
up  her  gift-laden  hands  to  God. 


CHAPTER     XXI. 

THE    MEXICAN    WAR. 

THE  long  agitation,  in  behalf  of  the  establishment 
of  a  Naval  Academy,  by  leading  American  naval 
officers,  prominent  among  whom  was  Captain  Perry, 
bore  fruit  in  the  year  1845.  Mr.  George  Bancroft, 
another  of  the  eminent  literary  men  who  have  acted  " 
as  Secretaries  of  the  Navy,  convened  a  board  of  offi 
cers  at  Philadelphia,  June  24,  and  directed  them  to 
make  suggestions  in  regard  to  a  naval  school.  In 
this  board  were  Commodores  George  C.  Read,  T.  Ap 
Catesby  Jones,  M.  C.  Perry,  Captains  E.  A.  F.  Lav- 
allette  and  Isaac  Mayo.  Full  of  enthusiasm  for  the 
proposed  enterprise,  they  wrote  a  report  outlining 
its  leading  features.  Secretary  Bancroft's  energy 
secured  the  execution  of  the  plan,  and  the  United 
States  Naval  Academy  was  begun  on  the  grounds  of 
Fort  Severn,  near  Annapolis.  Many  friends  warmly 
urged  Perry's  name  as  principal,  but  he  was  not  an 
applicant  for  the  post.  Captain  Franklin  Buchanan 
was  most  worthily  chosen,  and  the  sessions  began 
October  10,  1845.  Under  successive  superintend 
ents,  the  Naval  Academy  has  become  one  of  the 
first  professional  schools  in  the  world,  having  thus 
far  graduated  over  twelve  hundred  naval  officers, 
equipped  either  for  seamanship  or  engineering. 


IQ  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Service  afloat,  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  was  pre 
paring.  His  first  application  for  service,  in  case  of 
war,  was  made  on  the  i6th  of  August.  Meanwhile, 
he  called  the  attention  of  Secretary  Bancroft  to  the 
defective  state  of  our  signals,  and  forwarded  the 
code  of  Admiral  Rohde,  of  the  Danish  navy,  as  the 
basis  of  a  new  compilation ;  and,  according  to  orders, 
engaged  in  the  examination  of  merchant  steamers, 
with  a  view  to  harbor  and  coast  defence,  and  for  use 
in  war.  On  the  4th  of  February,  1846,  he  received 
information  from  Mexico  which  satisfied  him  that  war 
was  inevitable,  and  that  he  would  soon  be  in  the  land 
of  the  cactus,  the  eagle,  and  the  serpent.  Further, 
the  frigate  Cumberland,  when  in  the  act  of  starting 
for  the  Mediterranean,  was  ordered  to  Veta  Cruz. 

In  answer  to  repeated  offers  of  service,  Perry  re 
ceived  orders  dated  August  20,  1846,  to  command 
the  two  new  steamers,  Vixen  and  Spitfire,  which 
were  fitting  out  at  New  York.  When  these  were 
ready,  he  was  to  go  out  to  relieve  Captain  Fitzhugh 
of  the  Mississippi.  The  younger  officers,  graduates 
of  the  Sandy  Hook  School  of  Gunnery,  were  eager 
to  serve  under  their  former  instructor,  especially 
when  they  saw  that  he,  himself,  gladly  accepted  an 
inferior  command  in  order  to  serve  his  country  well. 
He  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  on  the  24th  of  September. 
He  was  subordinate  to  Commodore  Conner,  whose 
date  of  commission  preceded  his  own  ;  but  practi 
cally,  though  not  officially,  the  Gulf  or  Home  squad 
ron  was  divided.  Conner  had  charge  of  the  sail,  and 


THE    MEXICAN    WAR. 

Perry  of  the  steam  vessels.  Owing  to  lack  of  ships 
of  light  draught,  Conner  had  been  able  to  accom 
plish  little.  The  splendid  opportunities  of  the  first 
year  were  lost,  and  naval  expeditions,  even  when 
attempted,  proved  failures.  The  most  notorious  of 
these  was  the  second  unsuccessful  demonstration  at 
Alvarado,  October  16,  which  shook  the  faith  of  the 
strongest  believers  in  the  abilities  and  resolution  of  , 
Commodore  Conner.*  Because  of  the  grounding  of 
the  schooner  McLane,  on  the  bar,  the  enterprise  was 
given  up  for  the  day.  On  the  morrow,  when  all  was 
ready  for  a  second  attempt,  and  the  men  eager  for 
the  fray  —  their  last  will  and  testament  having  been 
left  numerously  with  the  chaplain  —  the  flag-ship's 
signals  were  read  with  amazement  and  wrath  :  "  Re 
turn  to  the  anchorage  off  Vera  Cruz."  Whether  the 
pilots  feared  a  "norther,"  or  Conner  doubted  the 
military  qualities  of  his  seamen  on  land,  or  believed 
his  craft  unsuited  to  the  task,  is  not  certainly  known. 
The  main  squadron  lay  off  Sacrificios  Island,  safely 
out  of  range  of  the  forts.  Many  glasses  were 
pointed  anxiously  night  and  day  toward  the  flag-ship 
for  signals,  which  were  not  made.  There  were  some 
French  vessels  in  the  harbor.  With  characteristic 
diligence,  the  officers,  impatient  to  see  hostilities 
begin,  yet  athirst  for  archaeological  honors,  began 


*  See  Parker's  Recollections  of  a  Naval  Officer,  with  reply 
of  P.  S.  P.  Conner,  Army  and  Navy  Journal*  February  2,  and 
April  19,  1884,  and  Magazine  of  American  History ',  July,  1885. 


2OO  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

excavations  for  Aztec  ruins,  and  found  a  number  of 
relics.  The  Americans  chafed.  Even  the  sight  of 
the  snow-capped  mountains  in  the  distance,  once 
burning  and  still  beautiful,  and  the  Southern  Cross 
at  night,  palled  on  the  eye.  The  sailors  wearied  of 
polishing  their  small  arms  and  furbishing  their  weap 
ons,  and  longed  to  use  them.  The  big  guns  were 
made  lustrous  with  the  fragrant  sea-pitch,  or  "black 
amber,"  from  off  the  sea-bottom,  until  their  coats 
shone  like  Japanese  lacquer.  This  substance  had  a 
perfume  like  guava  jelly,  but  the  sailors  longed 
rather  to  sniff  the  air  of  battle.  Like  Job's  war- 
horse,  they  had  thus  far  been  able  to  do  so  only  from 
afar.  Out  of  the  north  came  news  of  successes  con 
tinually,  while  the  sailors  still  scraped  and  scrubbed.* 
The  senior  commodore  acted  generously  to  Perry, 
who,  being  allowed  to  do  something  on  his  own  ac 
count,  and  happy  enough  to  do  it,  planned  the  cap 
ture  of  Tabasco.  It  was  in  Tabasco  that  Cortez 
fought  his  first  battle  on  Mexican  soil.  This  town, 
on  the  river  of  the  same  name,  had  about  five  hun 
dred  inhabitants  garrisoned  by  state  troops.  These 
were  commanded  by  General  Bravo,  who  had  sent 
several  challenges  inviting  attack.  The  Mexicans 
reckoned  that  the  natural  sandbar  at  the  river's 
mouth  was  a  better  defence  than  guns  or  forts,  and 
the  grounding  of  the  McLane  at  Alvarado,  doubtless 
lulled  them  into  this  delusion.  The  object  of  the 


*  Chaplain  Fitch  W.  Taylor,    The  Broad  Pennant. 


THE    MEXICAN    WAR.  2OI 

expedition  was  to  capture  the  fleet  of  small  craft 
moored  in  fancied  security  in  the  river.  This  con 
sisted  of  two  steamers,  a  brig,  a  sloop,  five  schooners 
and  numerous  boats  and  lighters — just  what  was 
needed  for  the  uses  of  our  squadron,  then  so  defi 
cient  in  light  draft  vessels. 

The  attacking  force  consisted  of  the  Mississippi, 
the  Vixen.  Bonita,  Reefer,  Nonita,  McLane  and  For 
ward,  with  an  extra  force  of  two  hundred  marines 
from  the  Raritan  and  Cumberland.  Leaving  Anton 
Lizardo,  October  16,  they  arrived  at  Frontera  on  the 
23d.  Without  losing  a  moment  of  time,  Perry  made 
a  dash  across  the  bar  almost  before  the  Mexicans 
knew  of  his  arrival,  and  captured  the  town.  Two 
river  steamers,  which  plied  between  the  city  and 
port,  Tabasco  and  Frontera,  were  lying  at  the  wharf 
under  the  guns  of  the  battery.  One  had  steam  up 
and  the  supper-table  spread.  After  these  had  been 
captured  by  cutting  out  parties,  the  captors  enjoyed 
the  hot  supper. 

The  next  two  days,  the  24th  and  25th,  were  con 
sumed  in  accomplishing  the  seventy-two  miles  of 
river  navigation,  in  the  face  of  a  heavy,  strong  cur 
rent.  The  Pctrita  and  Vixen  did  most  of  the  tow 
ing.  Reaching  the  famous  "  Devil's  Turn,"  at  2 
p.  M.,  and  finding  a  battery  in  view,  Perry  ordered 
a  landing  party  ashore,  which  speedily  entered  the 
deserted  fort  and  spiked  the  four  twenty-four  pound 
cannon  found  there.  The  city  was  reached  at  3  p.  M. 
Anchoring  the  vessels  in  line  ahead,  at  a  distance  of 


2O2  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

one  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  so  as  to  command  the 
principal  streets,  Perry  summoned  the  city  to  sur 
render,  threatening  to  open  fire  in  case  of  refusal. 
The  governor  declining  with  defiance,  returned 
answer,  "  Fire  as  soon  as  you  please." 

To  give  a  mild  taste  of  what  bombardment  might 
mean,  Perry  ordered  Commander  Sands  to  let  the 
Vixen ' s  guns  be  trained  on  the  flag  staff  of  the  fort. 
So  accurate  was  the  fire,  that,  of  the  three  shots,  one 
cut  the  pole  and  the  flag  fell.  This  was  taken  by 
the  fleet  as  the  sign  of  surrender.  A  Mexican  officer 
soon  after  came  off,  begging  that  the  hospitals  might 
be  spared.  Perry  at  once  granted  the  prayer.  By 
this  time,  it  was  nearly  five  o'clock  and  possibly  time 
to  take  the  fort.  As  Perry  believed  in  using  the 
men  while  their  war-blood  was  hot,  he  ordered  Cap 
tain  Forrest,  a  brave  but  deliberate  man,  to  land  his 
two  hundred  marines  and  take  the  fort,  the  main  body 
of  the  military  having  left  the  town.  While  the  men 
were  forming,  impatiently  awaiting  the  order  to  ad 
vance,  they  had  to  stand  under  an  irregular  fire  of 
musketry  from  the  chapparal.  Seeing  that  it  was 
late,  and  the  risk  too  great  for  the  prize,  Perry, 
ordering  the  men  on  board  again,  saved  his  marines 
for  the  morrow. 

At  daylight  of  the  26th,  some  Mexicans,  who  had 
sneaked  as  near  the  flotilla  as  possible,  opened  a 
sharp  fire  on  our  men.  The  cannon  were  at  once 
trained  and  kept  busy  in  brushing  away  these 
"  ground-spiders,"  as  the  Japanese  would  call  such 


THE    MEXICAN    WAR.  2O3 

ambuscaders.  "  Pomegranate  shot,"  to  use  a  term 
from  the  same  language,  for  shrapnel,  were  freely 
used. 

The  display  of  a  white  flag  from  the  city  shore 
stopped  the  firing,  and  the  Commodore  received  a 
petition  from  the  foreign  consuls  and  inhabitants 
that  the  town  should  be  spared.  He  granted  the 
petition,  adding  that  his  only  desire  was  to  fight 
soldiers  and  not  non-combatants. 

Out  of  pure  feelings  of  humanity,  Perry  spared  the 
city  though  there  was  much  to  irritate  him.  The 
Mexican  regulars  and  armed  peasants  were  still  in  or 
near  the  city,  posted  in  military  works  or  strong 
buildings  of  brick  or  stone,  and  reached  only  by  the 
artillery  of  the  flotilla.  Yet  the  governor,  while  al 
lowing  war  on  our  vessels,  would  not  permit  the 
people  to  leave  the  municipal  limits ;  and  so  the 
women  and  children,  crouched  in  the  cellars,  while 
the  sneaking  soldiers  kept  up  their  fusillade.  Proba 
bly  most  of  those  who  had  been  killed  or  wounded 
were  peaceable  inhabitants. 

The  Commodore  now  made  preparations  to  return, 
and  ordered  the  prizes  to  be  got  together.  While 
this  was  going  on,  even  though  the  white  flag  was 
conspicuously  waving  above  the  town,  a  party  of 
eighty  Mexicans  attacked  Lieutenant  W.  A.  Parker 
and  his  party  of  eighteen  men.  Seeing  this,  Perry 
sent  forward  Lieutenant  C.  W.  Morris,  son  of  Com 
modore  C.  G.  Morris,  with  orders  and  re-inforcement. 

The  young  officer  passed  the  gauntlet  of  the  heavy 


2O4  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

fire  which  now  opened  along  the  banks.  A  musket 
ball  struck  him  in  the  neck  inflicting  a  mortal  wound, 
but  he  stood  up  in  the  boat  and  cheered  his  men 
most  gallantly  as  they  bent  to  their  oars,  until  he  fell 
back  in  the  arms  of  midshipman  Cheever  who  wa> 
with  him.  The  loss  of  this  accomplished  young 
officer  and  the  treachery  of  the  Mexicans  made  for 
bearance  no  longer  a  virtue.  Perry  at  once  ordered 
the  guns  of  the  fleet  to  open  on  the  city  and  sweep 
the  streets  as  a  punishment  to  treachery.  He  spared 
as  far  as  possible  the  houses  of  the  consuls  and  those 
of  peaceful  citizens. 

The  Vixen,  Bonita,  Nonita  and  Forward  kept  up 
the  connonade  for  half  an  hour,  by  which  some  of  the 
houses  were  demolished. 

Having  no  force  to  hold  the  place,  no  field  artillery, 
and  a  limited  supply  of  muskets  and  equipments. 
Perry,  after  reducing  the  town,  and  neighborhood  to 
silence,  ordered  the  flotilla  and  prizes  to  move  down 
the  river.  Having  the  current  with  them,  they 
reached  Frontera  at  midnight.  One  of  the  prizes, 
the  Alvarado,  having  grounded  on  a  shoal  at  the 
Devil's  Turn,  was  blown  up  and  left.  Lieutenant 
Walsh  and  his  command  had  kept  all  quiet  at  Fron 
tera.  The  McLanc,  with  her  usual  luck,  having 
struck  on  the  bar,  could  not  get  up  to  take  part  in 
front  of  the  city. 

The  Tabasco  affair,  notwithstanding  that  the  city 
was  not  occupied,  infused  new  spirit  into  the  navy 
and  was  the  stimulus  to  fresh  exploits.  The  name 


THE    MEXICAN    WAR.  2O5 

of  Perry  again  became  the  rallying  cry.  The  moral 
influence  on  the  whole  squadron  of  the  capture  of 
Tabasco  was  good,  and  all  were  inspirited  for  fresh 
enterprises.  Even  if  no  other  effect  had  been  pro 
duced,  the  expedition  broke  the  monotony  of  blockade 
duty  and  made  life  more  endurable.  Still  the  men 
thirsted  for  more  glory,  and  yearned  to  satisfy  the 
home  press  and  people  who  were  so  eager  for  a  "  big 
butcher's  bill." 

The  squadron  returned  to  Anton  Lizardo,  where, 
on  the  ist,  Lieutenant  Morris  died  on  board  the 
Cumberland.  With  the  honors  of  war  he  was  buried 
on  Salmadina  Island,  where  already  a  cemetery  had 
begun.  The  prize  Petrita  distinguished  herself  by 
capturing  an  American  vessel  violating  the  blockade 
at  Alvarado. 

One  of  the  steamers  captured  at  Tabasco  was. 
formerly  a  fast  river  boat  plying  between  Richmond 
and  Norfolk,  well  named  the  Champion.  Under 
Lieutenant  Lockwood,  she  became  a  most  valuable 
dispatch  boat  and  of  great  use  to  the  squadron. 

The  town  of  Tampico,  210  miles  north  of  Vera 
Cruz,  offered  so  tempting  an  opportunity  of  easy 
capture  that  Commodore  Conner  resolved  to  make 
the  attempt. 

The  city  was  five  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Panuco,  and  had  already  sent  a  crack  battalion 
to  Santa  Anna's  army.  This  perfidious  leader  was 
using  all  his  craft  to  raise  an  army,  hoping  to  recruit 
largely  from  American  deserters.  He  supposed  that 


2O6  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

all  of  General  Taylor's  Irish  Roman  Catholic  soldiers 
would  desert,  because  seventy  or  eighty  of  them  had 
done  so.  A  battalion  had  been  formed,  and  named 
Santa  Patricio. 

In  this,  the  Mexican  was  keenly  mistaken,  tho 
Irishmen  holding  loyally  to  their  colors,  and  giving 
not  the  first,  nor  the  last,  illustration  of  their  valor 
under  the  American  flag.  They  here  forshadowed 
their  later  career  during  the  civil  war  which  produced 
a  new  character  —  the  Irish-American  soldier. 

As  Conner  had  been  formally  and  repeatedly  urged 
by  General  Bravo  to  visit  and  attack  Tabasco,  so  also 
was  he  invited  to  come  to  Tampico.  This  time,  how 
ever,  it  was  by  a  lady,  the  wife  of  the  American 
consul.  She  sent  him  the  invitation  stating  that  the 
city  would  yield  without  resistance.  This  proved  to 
be  true,  as  Santa  Anna's  policy  was  to  weaken  the 
American  forces  by  their  necessity  of  a  garrison  to 
hold  the  place  if  taken,  while  the  Tampico  troops 
could  be  employed  against  General  Taylor.  In  ac 
cordance  with  his  orders,  the  place  was  evacuated  by 
the  military,  who  took  along  with  them  their  stores 
and  artillery.  Prudence  prevailing  over  valor,  the 
Mexicans  fell  back  to  San  Luis  Potosi. 

The  squadron  with  the  two  Commodores,  Conner 
and  Perry  arrived  on  Saturday,  the  I4th  of  November 
off  the  dangerous  bar,  the  play-ground  of  numerous 
sharks.  The  eight  vessels  were  easily  got  into  the 
river  Panuco.  While  this  was  going  on,  and  the 
forward  vessels  were  ascending  the  river,  the  stars 


THE    MEXICAN    WAR.  2O/ 

and  stripes  were  seen  to  rise  over  the  city.  This 
pretty  act  was  that  of  the  wife  of  the  American 
consul  who  bravely  remained  after  her  husband  had 
been  banished. 

A  force  of  one-hundred  and  fifty  marines  and 
sailors  was  landed  to  occupy  the  town.  This  was 
done  silently,  and  not  a  hostile  shot  was  fired.  Thus 
the  second  really  successful  operation  of  our  navy  in 
the  Gulf  was  achieved  by  a  woman's  help.  Captain 
Tatnall  was  sent  up  the  river  eight  miles,  and  cap 
tured  the  town  of  Panuco. 

Tampico  was  seen  to  be  a  place  of  military  impor 
tance,  and  troops  were  necessary  to  hold  it,  yet  there 
was  not  then,  an  American  soldier  in  this  part  of 
Mexico.  All  were  in  the  north  with  General  Taylor. 
So  important  did  Conner  feel  this  to  be  that,  within 
a  half  hour  after  entering  the  town,  he  dispatched 
Perry  to  Matamoras  for  troops.  The  ever  ready 
Commodore  in  his  ever  ready  steamer,  Mississippi, 
left  at  once  for  the  north.  At  the  mouth  of  the 
Brazos  on  the  Texan  coast,  Perry  informed  General 
Patterson  of  the  fall  of  Tampico,  and  notified  him 
that  a  re-inforcement  would  be  needed  from  the 
troops  at  Point  Isabel.  He  then  proceeded,  of  his 
own  accord  and  most  judiciously,  as  Conner  wrote, 
to  New  Orleans,  anchoring  the  Mississippi  off  the 
southwest  pass  of  the  river  from  which  the  steamer 
took  her  name,  and  in  which,  sixteen  years  later,  she 
\vas  to  end  her  life. 

Perry  resolved  to  go  up  to  New  Orleans  to  stir  up 


2O8  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

the  authorities  to  greater  energy  and  dispatch.  He 
succeeded  in  obtaining  fifty  soldiers,  some  provisions, 
and  from  the  governor  of  Louisiana,  a  fully  equiped 
field  train  of  six  six-pounders  and  two  howitzers,  with 
two  hundred  rounds  of  shot  and  shell  to  each  gun. 
This  battery  belonged  to  the  State.  He  also  received 
a  large  supply  of  entrenching  tools  and  wheel 
barrows. 

All  these  were  secured  in  one  day,  and,  arriving 
back  at  Tampico  after  a  week's  absence,  November 
21,  he  delighted  and  surprised  the  naval  officers  by 
what  was  considered,  for  the  times,  a  great  feat  of 
transportation.  Other  steamers  and  military,  arrived 
November  30,  so  that  Tampico  soon  had  a  garrison 
of  eight  hundred  men.  Conner  remained  until 
December  13,  organizing  a  government  for  the  city, 
while  Perry  returned  at  once  to  Anton  Lizarclo. 

Though  life  on  ship-board  was  made  more  tolera 
ble  by  these  little  excitements,  it  was  dull  enough. 
Fresh  food  supplies  were  low.  The  coming  event  of 
scurvy  was  beginning  to  cast  shadows  before  in 
symptoms  that  betokened  a  near  visitation.  Perry, 
with  his  rooted  anti-scorbutic  principles,  selected  as 
the  next  point  of  attack  a  place  that  could  supply  the 
necessary  luxuries  of  fresh  beef  and  vegetables. 
Such  a  place  was  Lagima  del  Carmen,  near  Yucatan, 
at  the  extreme  southeast  of  Mexico.  It  was  in  a 
healthy  and  well  watered  country  rich  in  forests  of 
logwood.  Receiving  permission  of  Commodore  Con 
ner,  he  made  his  preparations. 


THE    MEXICAN    WAR.  2CX) 

The  ever  trusty  Mississippi,  towing  the  Vixen  and 
two  schooners  the  Bonita  and  Petrel,  moved  out  from 
the  anchorage,  like  a  hen  with  a  brood  of  chickens, 
December  17,  arriving  off  the  bar  on- the  2Oth.  Perry 
dashed  in  at  once,  and  the  place  was  easily  taken. 

Under  a  liberal  policy,  Laguna  flourished  and  com 
merce  increased.  The  American  officers,  worthy 
representatives  of  our  institutions,  were  very  popular 
not  only  with  the  dark-eyed  senoritas,  but  also  with 
the  solid  male  citizens  and  men  of  business.  Social 
life  throve,  and  balls  were  frequent.  The  fleet  was 
well  and  cheaply  supplied  with  wholesome  food. 
The  Lagunas  were  delighted  with  an  object  lesson,  in 
American  civilization,  and  during  eighteen  months 
so  prosperous  was  their  city,  that,  even  after  the 
treaty  of  peace,  the  people  petitioned  Commodore 
Perry  not  to  withdraw  his  forces  until  Mexico  was 
fully  able  to  protect  them. 

General  Taylor's  battles  were  bloody,  but  not  de 
cisive.  His  campaigns  had  little  or  no  influence 
upon  Paredes,  and  the  government  at  the  capital,  be 
cause  fought  in  the  sparsely  populated  northern 
provinces.  The  war  thus  far  had  been  magnificent, 
but  not  scientific.  The  country  at  large,  scarcely 
knew  of  the  existence  of  a  victorious  enemy  on  the 
soil.  At  the  distance  of  five  hundred  miles  from  the 
capital,  there  was  no  pressure  upon  the  leaders  or 
people.  The  political  nerves  of  Mexico,  like  China, 
were  not  as  sensitive  then,  as  in  our  days,  when 
wires  and  batteries  give  the  dullest  nation  a  new 
nervous  svstem. 


2IO  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Perry  made  a  study  of  the  whole  field  of  war.  He 
saw  that  the  vitals  of  the  country  were  vulnerable  at 
Vera  Cruz,  that  the  city  and  castle  once  occupied, 
the  navy,  by  sealing  the  ports,  could  enable  the  army 
(to  reach  the  capital  where  alone  peace  could  be  dic 
tated. 

The  administration  at  last  understood  the  situation 
and  ordered  a  change  of  base.  Recalling  General 
Scott,  who  had  been  set  aside  on  account  of  a  differ 
ence  of  opinion  with  the  War  Department,  and  the 
ultra-economical  administration,  preparations  were 
made  for  the  advance,  by  sea  and  land,  to  the  city  of 
Mexico,  where  peace  was  to  be  dictated.  The  full 
and  minute  data  which  had  been  forwarded  by  Com 
modore  Conner  enabled  the  general  to  map  out  fully 
his  brilliant  campaign. 

While  Scott  was  perfecting  details  in  the  United 
States,  the  early  winter  in  the  Gulf  passed  away  in 
steady  blockade  duty.  The  Mississippi  which  was 
the  constant  admiration  of  the  squadron  for  her  size, 
power,  sea-worthiness,  and  incessant  activity,  now 
needing  serious  repairs  and  overhauling,  was  ordered 
back  to  the  United  States.  Perry,  in  command  of 
her,  leaving  Vera  Cruz  early  in  January,  made  the 
run  safely  to  Norfolk,  Va.,  and  went  up  to  Washing 
ton  to  hasten  operations. 

An  examination  was  duly  made  by  the  board  of 
survey.  Their  report  declared  that  it  would  require 
six  weeks  to  get  the  Mississippi  ready  for  service. 

This,  to  Perry,  was  disheartening  news.     It  cast  a 


THE    MEXICAN    WAR.  211 

fearful  damper  upon  his  spirits,  but,  as  usual,  he 
never  knew  when  he  was  beaten.  To  remain  away 
from  the  seat  of  war  when  affairs  were  ready  to  cul 
minate  at  Vera  Cruz,  by  the  army  and  navy  acting  in 
generous  rivalry,  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  In  this 
strait,  he  turned  to  his  old  and  tried  friend,  Charles 
Haswell,  his  first  engineer,  and  had  him  sent  for  and 
brought  to  Norfolk. 

His  "confidence  was  well  founded.  Haswell  de 
clared  that,  by  working  night  and  day,  the  ship  could 
be  made  ready  in  two  weeks.  So  thorough  was  his 
knowledge  and  ability,  and  so  akin  to  Perry's  was  his 
energy,  that  in  a  fortnight  the  Commodore's  broad 
pennant  was  apeak,  and  the  cornet,  the  American 
equivalent  for  "Blue  Peter,"  was  flying  on  the  miz- 
zen  truck.  It  was  the  signal  for  all  officers  to  be 
aboard  and  admitted  of  no  delay. 

Mr.  Haswell  adds,  in  a  note  to  the  writer,  "  When 
I  took  leave  of  the  Commodore  on  the  morning  of 
sailing,  he  thanked  me  in  a  manner  indicative  of  a 
generous  heart." 

We  may  safely  add  that,  by  his  energies,  and  abili 
ties  in  getting  the  Mississippi  ready  at  this  time,  Mr. 
Haswell  saved  the  government  many  thousands  of 
dollars  and  contributed  largely  to  the  triumphs  of  a 
quick  war  which  brought  early  peace. 

While  in  Washington,  Perry  was  in  frequent  con 
sultation  with  the  authorities,  furnishing  valuable  in 
formation  and  suggestions.  While  the  Mississippi 
was  refitting,  Perry  was  ordered  to  take  the  general 


212  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

oversight  of  the  light  draft  vessels  fitting  out  at  New 
York  and  Boston  for  service  in  the  gulf.  This  order 
read, —  "  You  can  communicate  to  heads  of  Bureaux, 
to  hasten  them  and  give  to  their  commanders  any 
necessary  order."  The  squadron  in  preparation  con 
sisted  of  the  Scourge,  Lieutenant  C.  G.  Hunter ; 
Scorpion,  Commander,  A.  Bigelow  ;  Vesuvius,  Com 
mander  G.  A.  Magruder  ;  Hccla,  Lieutenant  A.  B. 
Fairfax;  Electra,  Lieutenant  T.  A.  Hunt ;  Aetna,  Com 
mander  W.  S.  Walker  ;  Stromboli,  Commander  J,  G. 
Van  Brunt  ;  Decatur,  Commander  R.  S.  Pfnckney. 

On  the  25th  of  February,  1847,  Perry  received  the 
following  order,  "  You  will  proceed  to  the  United 
States  Steam  Ship  Mississippi,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and,  on  your  arrival,  you  will  report  to  Commodore 
Conner,  who  will  be  instructed  to  transfer  to  you  the 
command  of  the  United  States  naval  forces  upon  that 
station." 

In  a  letter  dated  March  the  27th,  1847,  tne  Secre 
tary  wrote,  "The  naval  forces  under  your  command 
.  .  .  form  the  largest  squadron  it  is  believed,  which 
has  ever  been  assembled  under  the  American  flag 
.  .  .  steamers,  bomb  ketches  and  sailing  vessels  of 
different  classes."  Much  was  expected  of  this  fleet, 
and  much  was  to  be  accomplished. 

Yet  despite  Perry's  command  and  mighty  responsi 
bilities —  equal  to  those  of  an  admiral  —  he  was  but 
a  captain  with  a  pennant.  So  economical  was  our 
mighty  government. 

In  the  matter  of  the  war  with  Mexico  —  the  war  of 


THE    MEXICAN    WAR.  213 

a  slave-holding  against  a  free  republic  —  Matthew 
Perry  acted  as  a  servant  of  the  government.  He 
was  a  naval  officer  whose  business  it  was  to  carry  out 
the  orders  of  his  superiors.  With  the  moral  question 
of  invading  Mexico,  he  had  nothing  to  do.  The  re 
sponsibility  lay  upon  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  and  especially  upon  the  President,  his  cabinet 
and  supporters.*  Perry  did  not  like  the  idea  of  in 
vasion,  and  believed  that  redress  could  be  obtained 
with  little  bloodshed,  and  hostilities  be  made  the 
means  of  education  to  a  sister  republic.  He  there 
fore  submitted  to  the  govenment,  a  detailed  plan  for 
prosecuting  the  war  : 

1st.  To  occupy  and  colonize  California,  and  annex 
it  to  the  territory  of  the  United  States. 

2nd.  To  withdraw  all  United  States  troops  from 
the  interior  of  Mexico  proper. 

3rd.  To  establish  a  military  cordon  along  its  north 
ern  frontiers. 

4th.  To  occupy  by  naval  detachments  and  military 
garrisons,  all  its  principal  ports  in  the  'Atlantic  and 
Pacific  oceans. 

5th.  To  establish  these  ports  temporarily,  and  dur 
ing  the  continuance  of  the  war,  as  American  ports  of 
entry  with  a  tariff  of  specific  duties. 

6th.    To  throw  these  ports  open  for  the  admission 


*  See,  for  perhaps  the  best  brief  statement  of  the  causes  lead 
ing  to  the  Mexican  war  and  the  part  plaved  by  Polk,  the  article 
"Wars;"  by  Prof.  Alexander  Johnston,  Lalor's  Encyclopaedia. 
Vol.  Ill,  p.  1091. 


214  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

under   any  friendly    flag   of   all    articles,    foreign    or 
domestic  not  contraband  of  war. 

7th.  To  encourage  the  admission  and  sale  of 
American  manufactured  goods  and  the  staples  of  the 
country,  "  particularly  that  of  tobacco,  which  is  a 
present  monopoly  of  Mexico,  and  yields  to  the  gov 
ernment  a  large  revenue." 

We  should  thus  get  a  revenue  to  pay  for  the  ex 
penses  of  the  war. 

The  advantages  of  Perry's  plan,  stated  in  his  own 
words,  were  that,  "  Instead  of  our  waging  a  war  of 
invasion,  it  would  become  one  of  occupation  and 
necessary  expediency,  and  consequently  a  contest 
more  congenial  to  the  institutions  and  professions  of 
the  American  people." 

"  The  cost  of  the  war  would  be  reduced  three-fourths, 
the  results  would  be  positive,  and  there  would  be  an 
immense  saving  of  human  life.  Commerce  and  kind 
ness  would  remove  false  ideas  of  Mexicans  concerning- 
North  American  people,  ideas  so  actively  fomented 
by  the  Mexican  clergy.  As  an  argument  in  favor 
of  humanity,  the  Mexican  people  would  be  led  to  pur 
sue  agriculture  and  mining,  so  that  it  would  be  hard 
to  rouse  sufficient  military  spirit  in  them  to  dislodge 
forces  holding  their  ports."  The  "  baleful  influence 
of  the  clergy  would  be  lessened,"  and  the  despotic 
power  of  the  military  be  almost  annihilated,  so  that 
the  people  would  sue  for  peace.  In  short,  this  plan, 
if  carried  out,  would  be  a  great  educational  measure. 

The  Mississippi  in  those  days  was  among  ordinary 


THE    MEXICAN    WAR.  215 

war  vessels,  what  the  racers  of  the  Atlantic  to-day 
are  among  common  steamers,  —  "an  ocean  grey 
hound."  Fleetly  the  gallant  vessel  moved  south, 
passing  exultingly  the  Bahamas,  where  many  of  our 
transports  were  waiting  for  a  change  of  wind.  Many 
of  these  were  "ocean  tramps" — hulks  of  such  age 
and  rottenness,  that  a  norther  would  surely  strand 
them.  The  Mississippi  stopping  at  Havana,  March 
15,  1847,  was  after  two  days  then  pointed  for  Vera 
Cruz,  arriving  on  the  evening  of  the  2Oth. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

"  COMMODORE    PERRY    COMMANDS    THE    SQUADRON." 

THE  precise  methods  and  almost  immutable  laws 
of  military  science  required  that  the  American  inva 
sion  of  Mexico  in  1847  should  be  at  the  exact  spot 
on  which  Cortez  landed  two  centuries  before,  and 
where  the  French  disembarked  in  1830,  and  in  1865. 
This  was  at  the  only  port  on  the  Gulf  coast  of 
Mexico,  in  which  large  vessels  could  anchor.  Ships 
entered  by  the  North  channel  or  fastened  to  rings  in 
the  castle  walls.  Our  war  vessels  lay  a  little  south 
of  the  Vera  Cruz  founded  by  the  Spanish  buccaneer. 

With  but  a  few  skirmishes  and  little  loss,  the  line 
of  circumvallation  was  completed  by  the  i8th,  and 
named  Camp  Washington.  Ground  was  broken  for 
intrenchmcnts,  and  platforms  were  built  for  the  mor 
tars  which  were  placed  in  sunken  trenches  out  of 
sight  from  the  city.  Waiting  for  a  pause  in  the 
raving  norther,  and  then  seizing  opportunity  by  the 
foremost  hair  of  the  forelock,  the  sailors  landed  ten 
mortars  and  four  twenty-four  pounder  guns.  By  the 
22d,  seven  of  the  mortars  were  in  position  on  their 
platforms.  Most  of  these  latter  were  of  the  small 
bronze  pattern  called  coehorns,  after  their  inventor 
the  Dutch  engineer,  Baron  Mennon  de  Coehorn. 


PERRY    COMMANDS    THE    SQUADRON.  2I/ 

These  pieces  could  be  handled  by  two  men.  A  few 
mortars  were  of  the  ten-inch  pattern. 

This  was  a  pitiful  array  of  ordnance  to  batter 
down  a  walled  city,  and  a  nearly  impregnable  castle. 
With  these  in  activity,  both  city  and  castle,  if  well 
provisioned,  could  hold  out  for  months.  Shells 
falling  perpendicularly  would  destroy  women  and 
children,  but  do  little  harm  to  soldiers.  The  forty 
other  mortars  and  the  heavy  guns  were  somewhere 
at  sea  on  the  transports  and  as  yet  unheard  of,  while 
every  day  the  shadow  of  the  dreaded  vomito  stalked 
nearer.  Vera  Cruz  must  be  taken  before  "  King 
Death  in  his  Yellow  Robe  "  arrived.  The  Mexicans 
for  the  nonce,  prayed  for  his  coming. 

The  vomito,  or  yellow  fever,  is  a  gastro-nervous 
disorder  which  prostrates  the  nervous  system,  often 
killing  its  victims  in  five  or  six  hours,  though  its 
usual  course  is  from  two  to  six  days.  Men  are  more 
susceptible  to  it  than  women.  It  was  the  Mexican's 
hope,  for  Vera  Cruz  was  its  nursery,  and  the  month 
of  March  its  time  of  beginning.  Northerners  taken 
in  the  hot  season  might  recover.  In  the  cold  season, 
an  attack  meant  sure  death.  The  disease  is  carried 
and  propagated  by  mosquitoes  and  flies,  and  no 
system  of  inoculation  was  then  known.  An  outbreak 
among  our  unacclimated  men  would  mean  an  epidemic. 

Scott,  despite  his  well  known  excessive  vanity,  was 
a  humane  man  and  a  scientific  soldier.  His  ambition 
was  to  win  success  and  glory  at  a  minimum  of  loss  of 
life,  not  only  in  his  own  army  but  among  the  enemy. 


218  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

His  aim  was  to  make  a  sensation  by  methods  the 
reverse  of  Gen.  Taylor's,  whose  popularity  had  won 
him  the  soldier's  title  of  "  Rough  and  Ready,"  while 
Buena  Vista  had  built  the  political  platform  on 
which  he  was  to  mount  to  the  presidency.  "Taylor 
the  Louisianian's  "  battles  were  sanguinary,  but  inde 
cisive.  He  had  driven  in  the  Mexican  left  wing;. 

£"> 

Scott  hoped  to  pierce  the  centre,  to  shed  little  blood 
and  to  make  every  shot  tell.  The  people  at  home 
knew  nothing  of  war  as  a  science.  They  expected 
blood  and  "a  big  butcher's  bill,"  and  the  newspapers 
at  least  would  be  disappointed  unless  gore  was  abun 
dant.  His  soldiers  and  especially  those  who  had 
been  under  Taylor  and  whose  chief  idea  of  fighting 
was  a  rush  and  a  scuffle,  failed  at  first  to  appreciate 
him,  and  dubbed  this  splendid  soldier  "  Fuss  and 
Feathers." 

Scott  determined  at  once  to  show,  as  the  key  to  his 
campaign,  a  city  captured  with  trivial  loss.  Yet  all 
his  plans  seemed  about  to  be  dashed,  because  his 
siege  train  had  failed  to  come.  The  pitiful  array  of 
coehorns  and  ten-inch  mortars,  with  four  light 
twenty-four  pounder  guns  and  two  Columbiacls, 
would  but  splash  Vera  Cruz  with  the  gore  of  non- 
combatants,  while  still  the  enemy's  flag  was  flaunted 
in  defiance,  and  precious  time  was  being  lost.  The 
general's  vanity  —  an  immense  part  of  him  —  was 
sorely  wounded.  "The  accumulated  science  of  the 
ages  applied  to  the  military  art,"  which  he  hoped  to 
illustrate  "  on  the  plains  of  Vera  Cruz,"  was  as  yet  of 


PERRY    COMMANDS    THE    SQUADRON.  2 19 

no  avail.  Further,  as  a  military  man,  he  was  unwill 
ing  to  open  his  batteries  with  a  feeble  fire  which 
might  even  encourage  the  enemy  to  a  prolonged 
resistance.  Conner  is  said  to  have  offered  to  lend 
him  navy  guns,  but  he  declined. 

Perry  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  in  the  Mississippi, 
March  20  1847,  after  a  passage  of  thirteen  days  from 
Norfolk.  He  was  back  just  in  time.  Steam  had 
enabled  him  to  be  on  hand  to  accomplish  one  of  the 
greatest  triumphs  of  his  life.  His  orders  required 
him  to  attack  the  sea  fort  fronting  Vera  Cruz,  "  if  the 
army  had  gone  into  the  interior."  The  United  States 
fleet  had  lain  before  it  for  a  whole  year  without  ag 
gression.  He  found  our  army  landed  and  Vera  Cruz 
invested  on  every  side.  The  Mexicans  were  actively 
firing,  but  as  yet  there  was  no  response  from  our 
side.  That  night  it  blew  a  gale  from  the  North. 
The  vessels  hidden  in  spray,  and  the  camps  in  sand, 
-waited  till  daylight. 

Early  next  morning,  March  21,  Perry  was  informed 
that  the  steamer  Hunter  together  with  her  prize  a 
French  barque,  \.\\tjeune  Nelly,  which  had  been 
caught  March  2Oth  running  the  blockade  out  of  Vera 
Cruz,  and  an  American  schooner,  were  all  ashore  on 
the  northeast  breakers  of  Green  Island.  Their 
crews,  to  the  number  of  sixty  souls,  were  in  imminent 
danger  of  perishing.  Among  them  was  a  mother  and 
her  infant  child.  Perry  was  quick  to  respond  to  the 
promptings  of  humanity.  In  such  a  gale,  not  a 
sailing  vessel  dared  leave  her  moorings.  The  Missis- 


22O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

sippi  had  parted  her  cables,  owing  to  the  violence  of 
the  wind.  A  British  war  steamer  lay  much  nearer 
the  scene  of  disaster,  without  apparently  thinking  of 
the  possibility  of  moving  in  such  a  gale  ;  but  Perry 
knew  his  noble  ship  and  what  to  do  with  her.  He 
dashed  out  in  the  teeth  of  the  tempest  and  forced 
her  through  the  terrific  waves.  In  admiration  of  the 
act,  Lieutenant  Walke  made  a  graphic  picture  of  the 
rolling  Mississippi,  which  now  hangs  in  the  hall  of 
the  Brooklyn  Lyceum.  Reaching  Green  Island, 
Perry  cast  anchor.  Captain  Mayo  and  four  officers 
volunteered  to  go  to  the  rescue  of  the  wrecked  people. 
In  spite  of  the  great  peril,  they  saved  the  entire 
party.  The  scene  was  one  of  thrilling  interest  when 
the  young  mother  embraced  husband  and  child  in 
safety  on  the  deck  of  the  noble  steamer.  Had  not 
the  Mississippi  and  Perry  been  at  hand,  the  whole 
party  must  have  perished. 

It  was  on  his  return  from  this  errand  of  humanity 
that  Commodore  Matthew  Perry  was  given  and 
assumed  the  command  of  the  American  fleet  —  the 
first  of  such  magnitude,  and  the  greatest  yet  assem 
bled  under  the  American  flag.  The  time  was  8  A.  M. 
March  2ist.  As  Captain  Parker  recollects:  "On 
the  twenty-first  of  March  shortly  after  the  hoisting 
of  the  colors,  we  were  electrified  by  the  signal  from 
the  flag-ship  '  Commodore  Perry  commands  the 
squadron.' '  At  once,  Perry  called  with  Conner  upon 
General  Scott  concerning  the  navy's  part  in  the 
siege. 


PERRY    COMMANDS    THE    SQUADRON.  221 

The  order  of  relief  to  Commodore  Conner  dated 
Washington  March  3,  1847,  was  worded:  "The  un 
certain  duration  of  the  war  with  Mexico  has  induced 
the  President  to  direct  me  no  longer  to  suspend  the 


PERRY    AT    THE    AGE    OF    FIFTY-FOUR. 


rule  which  limits  the  term  of  command  in  our  squad 
rons  in  its  application  to  your  command  of  the  Home 
Squadron." 

Scott  had  opened  fire  March  iSth,  but  seeing  his 
inability  to  breach  the  walls,  he  was  obliged  to  apply 
for  help  from  the  navy.  When  the  new  and  the  old 
naval  commanders  visited  him  in  his  tent  on  the 
morning  of  the  2ist,  the  General  requested  of  Perry 


222  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

the  loan  of  six  of  the  heavy  shell  guns  of  the  navv 
for  use  by  the  army  in  battery.  Perry's  reply  was 
instant,  hearty,  characteristic,  naval  :  "  Certainly, 
General,  but  I  must  fight  them." 

Scott  said  his  soldiers  would  take  charge  of  the 
guns,  if  the  Commodore  would  land  them  on  the 
beach.  To  this  Perry  said  "no!"  That  "  whercve  • 
the  guns  went,  their  officers  and  men  must  go  with 
them."  Scott  objected,  declined  the  conditions,  and 
renewed  the  bombardment  with  his  small  guns  and 
mortars  ;  but  finding  that  he  was  only  wasting  time, 
he  finally  consented  and  asked  Perry  to  send  the 
guns  with  their  naval  crews.  The  marines  were 
a] ready  in  the  trenches  doing  duty  as  part  of  the  3d 
U.  S.  artillery.  •  Hitherto  the  sailors  had  acted  as 
the  laborers  for  the  army,  now  they  were  to  take 
part  in  the  honors  of  the  siege,  This  was  on 
account  of  Perry's  demand. 

How  the  successor  of  Conner  announced  to  his 
sailors  the  glory  awaiting  them  is  told  in  the  words 
of  Rear  Admiral  John  H.  Upshur.  "  I  shall  never 
forget  the  thrill  which  pervaded  the  squadron,  when, 
on  the  day,  within  the  very  hour  of  his  succeeding  to 
the  command,  he  announced  from  his  barge,  as  he 
pulled  under  the  sterns  of  all  the  vessels  of  the  fleet, 
in  succession,  that  we  were  to  land  guns  and  crews 
to  participate  in  the  investment  of  the  city  of  Vera 
Cruz.  Cheer  after  cheer  was  sent  up  in  evidence  of 
the  enthusiasm  this  promise  of  a  release  from  a  life 
of  inaction  we  had  been  leading  under  Perry's  prede- 


PERRY    COMMANDS    THE    SQUADRON. 

cessor  inspired  in  every  breast.  In  a  moment 
everything  was  stir  and  bustle,  and  in  an  incredibly 
short  space  of  time,  each  vessel  had  landed  her  big 
gun,  with  double  crews  of  officers  and  men.  .  .  Perry 
announced  that  those  who  did  not  behave  themselves 
should  not  be  allowed  another  chance  to  fight  the 
enemy  —  which  proved  a  guarantee  of  good  conduct 
in  all.  .  .  Under  the  energetic  chief  who  succeeded  to 
the  command  of  a  squadron  dying  of  supineness, 
until  his  magic  word  revived  it,  the  navy  of  the 
United  States  sustained  its  old  prestige." 

Not  only  were  men  and  officers  on  the  ships 
thrilled  at  the  sight  of  Perry's  pennant,  but  joy  was 
carried  to  many  hearts  on  shore.  A  writer  in  the 
New  York  Star,  of  August  7th  1852,  who  was  on 
board  the  flag-ship  during  two  days  of  the  siege 
details  the  incidents  here  narrated. 

At  the  investment  of  the  city  there  were  still  left 
in  it  a  few  American  women  with  their  children 
mostly  of  the  working  class,  their  husbands  having 
been  driven  from  the  city  by  the  authorities.  Gov 
ernor  Landero  was  not  the  man  to  make  war  on 
women  and  children,  and  they  remained  in  peace 
until  the  bombardment  commenced.  Then  they 
thronged  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Gifford  the  British 
consul  for  protection,  and  he  transferred  them  to  the 
sloop-of-war  Daring,  Captain  George  Marsden,  who 
found  them  what  place  he  could  on  his  decks,  already 
crowded  with  British  subjects  flying  from  the 
doomed  city. 


224  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH     PERRY. 

We  had  then  seventy  vessels,  chartered  transports 
and  vessels  of  war  in  front  of  the  city,  but  from 
negligence  on  the  part  of  General  Scott  and  Commo 
dore  Conner  no  provision  was  made  to  succor  and 
relieve  our  homeless  citizens,  though  "I,"  says  the 
correspondent,  "  who  write  this  from  what  I  sav/, 
caused  application  to  be  made  to  both  to  have  them 
taken  from  the  deck  of  the  Daring  (where  they  were 
in  the  way  and  only  kept  for  charity)  to  some  of  our 
unoccupied  transport  cabins.  Commodore  Conner 
flatly  refused,  as  Captain  Forrest  of  the  navy  knows,, 
for  he  heard  it,  to  have  anything  to  do  with  them, 
and  General  Scott  had  no  time.  Just  about  then,. 
Commodore  Perry  came  down,  to  the  Gulf.  At  noon 
his  pennon  of  command  floated  from  the  Mississippi^ 
and  before  the  sun  went  down,  he  had  gathered  into 
a  place  of  safety  every  person,  whether  common 
working  people  or  not,  who  had  the  right  to  claim 
the  protection  of  the  American  flag." 

The  same  writer  adds  :  "  The  other  time  I  saw  him, 
he  had  just  been  told  that  Mr.  Beach  of  the  New 
York  Sun  and  his  daughter  were  in  great  danger  in 
the  city  of  Mexico,  as  Mr.  Beach  was  accused  of 
being  a  secret  agent  of  the  United  States.  The 
informant  at  the  same  time  volunteered  the  informa 
tion  that  the  Sun  'went  against  the  Navy  and 
Commodore  Perry.'  'The  Navy  must  show  him 
that  he  is  mistaken  in  his  bad  opinion  of  it,'  said  the 
bluff  Commodore,  '  and  the  question  is  not  who  likes 
me  but  how  to  get  an  American  citizen,  and  above 


PERRY    COMMANDS    THE    SQUADRON.  22$ 

all  an  unprotected  female  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
Mexicans.'  The  son  of  Gomez  Farias,  the  then 
President  of  Mexico,  and  one  or  two  other  Mexican 
gentlemen  had  come  on  board  the  Mississippi  from 
the  British  steamer,  to  solicit  the  kind  offices  of 
Commodore  Perry  for  permits  to  pass  the  American 
lines.  The  Commodore  seized  the  occasion  to  make 
exchange  of  honor,  and  courtesy  with  young  Farias. 
He  stated  the  case  of  a  father  and  daughter  being 
detained  in  dangerous  uncertainty  in  the  city  of 
Mexico,  and  obtained  the  pledges  of  the  Mexicans  to 
promote  their  safe  deliverance.  It  was  effected 
before  they  arrived  in  Mexico,  but  the  quick  and 
generous  action  of  Perry  was  none  the  less  to  be 
esteemed." 

We  may  thus  summarize  the  events  of  a  day  ever 
memorable  to  Matthew  Perry. 

March  2Oth.  Arrival  from  the  United  States  in 
the  Mississippi.  Norther. 

March  21.  (a)  Daylight  —  Rescue  of  the  Hunter. 
(b)  8  A.  M.  Receives  command  of  squadron,  (c)  Call 
with  Conner  on  Gen.  Scott,  (d)  Proposal  for  naval 
battery,  (e)  Perry  returns  to  the  fleet  and  assumes 
command.  (/)  Under  stern  of  each  vessel,  an 
nounces  naval  battery,  (g)  Arranges  for  American 
women  and  children  from  Vera  Cruz.  (//)  Prepara 
tions  for  landing  the  heavy  navy  guns. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

THE  NAVAL  BATTERY  BREACHES  THE  WALLS  OF 
VERA  CRUZ. 

PERRY'S  first  order  being  that  the  navy  should  give 
the  army  the  most  efficient  cooperation,  by  transfer 
ring  part  of  its  heavy  battery  from  deck  to  land,  the 
six  guns  of  the  size  and  pattern  most  desired  by 
Scott  were  selected.  With  a  view  to  distribute  hon 
ors  impartially  among  the  ships,  and  to  cheer  the 
men,  a  double  crew  of  sailors  and  officers  was  as 
signed  to  each  gun  ;  one  of  the  crews  being  the  regu 
lar  complement  for  the  gun.  As  everyone  wanted 
to  accompany  the  guns,  lots  were  drawn  among  the 
junior  officers  for  the  honor.  The  crews  having  been 
picked,  the  landing  of  the  ordnance  began  on 
the  22d.  The  pieces  chosen  were  two  thirty-twos 
from  the  Potomac,  one  of  the  same  calibre  from  the 
Raritan,  and  one  sixty-eight  chambered  Paixhans  or 
Columbiad  from  the  Mississippi,  the  Albany,  and  the 
St.  Mary  s.  The  three  thirty-twos  weighed  sixty-one, 
and  the  three  sixty-eights,  sixty-eight  hundred-weight 
each. 

These  were  landed  in  the  surf-boats,  and  by  hun 
dreds  of  sailors  and  soldiers  were  hauled  up  on  the 
beach.  The  transportation  on  heavy  trucks  was 


THE    NAVAL    BATTERY.  22J 

done  by  night,  as  it  was  necessary  to  conceal  from 
the  Mexicans  the  existence  of  such  a  formidable 
battery  until  it  was  ready  to  open.  The  site  chosen 
was  three  miles  off.  The  road,  as  invisible  for  the 
most  part  as  an  underground  railway,  was  of  sand, 
in  which  the  two  trucks  —  all  that  were  available  — 
sunk  sometimes  to  the  axles,  and  the  men  to  the 
knees,  so  that  the  toilsome  work  resembled  plowing. 

The  naval  battery,  which,  in  the  circumvallation 
was  "  Number  Four,"  was  constructed  entirely  of 
the  material  at  hand,  very  plentiful  and  sewn  up  in 
bags.  It  had  two  traverses  six  or  more  feet  thick, 
the  purpose  of  which  was  to  resist  a  flanking,  or  in 
naval  parlance  a  "raking"  fire,  which  might  have 
swept  the  inner  space  clean.  The  guns  were  mounted 
in  their  own  ship's  carriages  on  platforms,  being  run 
out  with  side  tackle  and  hand-spikes,  and  their  re 
coil  checked  with  sand -bags.  The  ridge  on  which 
the  battery  was  planted  was  opposite  the  fort  of 
Santa  Barbara,  parallel  with  the  city  walls  and  fifteen 
feet  above  their  level.  It  was  directly  in  front  of 
General  Patterson's  command.  In  the  trenches  be 
yond,  lay  his  brigade  of  volunteers  ready  to  support 
the  work  in  case  of  a  sortie  and  storming  by  the 
Mexicans.  The  balls  were  stacked  within  the  sandy 
walls,  but  the  magazine  was  stationed  some  distance 
behind.  The  cartridges  were  served  by  the  powder 
boys  as  on  ship-board,  a  small  trench  being  dug  for 
their  protection  while  not  in  transit. 

Here  then  was  "the  accumulated  science  of  ages" 


228  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

on  the  plains  of  Vera  Cruz  applied  to  the  naval  art, 
and  directed  against  the  doomed  city,  erected  by  one 
of  the  greatest  engineers  of  the  age,  Robert  E.Lee, 
with  ordnance  served  by  the  ablest  naval  artillerists 
of  the  world,  the  pupils  of  the  leading  officer  of  the 
the  American  navy,  Matthew  C.  Perry.  Most  of 
them  had  been  trained  under  his  eye  at  the  Sandy 
Hook  School  of  Gun  Practice.  They  were  now  to 
turn  their  knowledge  into  account.  Not  a  single 
random  shot  was  fired. 

The  exact  range  of  each  of  the  familiar  guns  was 
known,  and  the  precise  distance  to  the  nearest  and 
more  distant  forts.  The  points  to  be  aimed  at  had 
been  mathematically  determined  by  triangulation 
before  a  piece  was  fired.  Shortly  before  10  A.  M.  on 
on  the  24th  of  March,  while  the  last  gun  mounted 
was  being  sponged  and  cleared  of  sand,  the  cannon 
of  Santa  Barbara  opened  with  a  fire  so  well  aimed 
that  it  was  clear  that  the  battery  was  discovered. 
A  few  daring  volunteers  sprang  out  of  the  embra 
sures  to  clear  away  the  brush  and  unmask  the  work. 
The  chapparal  was  well  chopped  away  to  give  free 
range  to  the  officers  who  sighted  the  pieces,  the  aim 
being  for  the  walls  below  the  flag-pole.  The  direct 
and  cross  fire  of  seven  forts  soon  converged  on  the 
sandbags,  and  the  castle  sent  ten-and  thirteen-inch 
shells  flying  over  and  around.  When  one  of  these 
fell  inside,  all  dropped  down  to  the  ground.  For  the 
first  five  minutes  the  air  seemed  to  be  full  of  missiles, 
but  our  men  after  a  little  practice  at  houses  and 


THE    NAVAL    BATTERY.  22Q 

flag-staffs  soon  settled  clown  to  their  work  to  do  their 
best  with  navy  guns,  One  lucky  shot  by  Lieutenant 
Baldwin  severed  the  flag-staff  of  Santa  Barbara  ;  at 
which,  all  hands  mounted  the  parapet  and  gave  three 
cheers.  Iii  order  to  allow  free  sweep  to  the  big  guns, 
the  embrasures  had  been  made  large,  thus  offering  a 
tempting  target  to  the  enemy. 

The  Mexicans  were  good  heavy  artillerists,  but 
their  shot  was  lighter  than  ours.  Some  of  them 
were  killed  by  their  own  balls  which  had  been  picked 
out  of  the  sandbags  by  the  Americans  and  fired  back. 
Their  strongest  and  best  served  battery  was  that  front 
ing  on  the  one  worked  by  our  sailors.  The  navy  was 
here  pitted  against  the  navy,  for  the  commander  on  the 
city  side  was  Lieutenant  of  Marines  D.  Sebastian 
Holzinger,  a  German  and  an  officer  of  several  year's 
service  in  the  Mexican  navy.  He  was  as  brave  as 
he  was  capable  ;  and  when  his  flag-staff  had  been  cut 
away,  he  and 'a  young  assistant  leaped  into  the  space 
outside,  seized  the  flag  and  in  sight  of  the  Americans, 
nailed  it  to  the  staff  again.  A  ball  from  the  naval 
battery  at  the  same  moment  striking  the  parapet, 
Holzinger  and  his  companion  were  nearly  buried  in 
rubbish. 

Within  the  city  the  Mexican  soldiers,  who  had 
before  found  shelter  in  their  bomb-proof  places  of 
retreat  from  the  mortar  bombs  falling  vertically  into 
the  streets,  did  not  relish  and  could  not  hold  out 
against  missiles  sent  directly  through  the  walls  into 
their  barracks  and  places  of  refuge.  The  Paixhans 


23O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

shells  hit  exactly  among  soldiers,  and  not  into 
churches  among  women.  It  is  said  that  when  the 
Mexicans  engineers  in  the  city  picked  up  the  solid 
thirty-two  pounder  shot  and  one  of  the  unexploded 
eight-inch  shells,  they  decided  at  once  that  the  city 
must  fall. 

In  spite  of  the  hammering  which  the  sand  battery 
received,  no  material  injury  to  its  walls  was  done, 
and  what  there  was  was  easily  repaired  at  night. 
Captains  Lee  and  Williams  were  willing  to  show 
faith  in  their  own  work,  and  remained  in  the  redoubt 
during  the  fire.  At  2.30  P.  M.  the  ammunition  was 
exhausted,  and  the  heated  ordnance  was  allowed  to 
cool.  The  last  gun  fired  was  a  double-shotted  one  of 
the  Potomac.  Captain  Aulick  wishing  to  send  a 
despatch  to  Commodore  Perry,  Midshipman  Fauntle- 
roy  volunteered  to  take  it,  and  though  the  Mexicans 
were  playing  with  all  their  artillery,  he  arrived 
safely  on  the  beach  and  Perry  received  tidings  of 
progress. 

The  embrasures  were  filled  up  with  sandbags,  and 
the  garrison  sat  under  the  parapet,  awaiting  the 
relief  party  which  approached  about  4  o'clock.  The 
Mexicans,  who  had  been  driven  away  from  their  guns, 
now  finding  the  Americans  silent,  opened  with 
redoubled  vigor  which  made  the  approaching  rein 
forcements  watch  the  air  keenly  for  the  black  spots 
which  were  round  shots. 

The  result  of  the  first  day's  use  of  the  navy  guns 
was,  that  fifty  feet  of  the  city  walls  built  of  coquina 


THE    NAVAL    BATTERY.  23! 

or  shell-rock,  the  curtains  of  the  redoubt  to  right  and 
left,  were  cut  away.  A  great  breach  was  made,  about 
thirty-six  feet  wide,  sufficient  for  a  storming  party  to 
enter ;  while  the  thicker  masonry  of  the  forts  was 
drilled  like  a  colender.  These  breaches  were  partly 
filled  at  night  by  sandbags. 

The  relief  party  led  by  Captain  Mayo  reached  the 
battery  at  sunset,  and  after  a  good  supper,  fell  to  sound 
sleep,  during  which  time,  the  engineers  repaired  the 
parapet.  It  was  a  beautiful  starlight  night.  The 
time  for  the  chirping  of  the  tropical  insects  had 
come,  and  they  were  awakening  vigorously  to  their 
summer  concerts.  All  night  long  the  mortars,  like 
geyser  springs  of  fire,  kept  up  their  rhythmic  flow  of 
iron  and  flame.  The  great  star-map  of  the  heavens 
seemed  scratched  over  with  parabolas  of  red  fire,  the 
streaks  of  which  were  watched  with  delight  by  the 
soldiers,  and  with  tremor  by  the  beleagured  people 
in  the  city. 

At  daylight  the  boatswain's  silver  whistle  called 
the  men  to  rise,  and  the  day's  work  soon  after  break 
fast  began  in  earnest.  The  sailors  manned  their 
guns,  firing  so  steadily  that  between  seven  and  eight 
o'clock  it  was  necessary  to  let  the  iron  tubes  cool. 
At  7  A.  M.  another  army  battery,  of  four  twenty-fours 
and  two  eight-inch  Paixhans  being  finished,  joined  in 
the  roar.  Their  fire  was  rapid,  but  the  dense  growth 
of  chapparal  hid  their  objective  points  from  view 
making  good  aim  impossible,  so  that  the  damage 
done  was  not  strikingly  evident. 


232  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

The  castle  garrison  had  now  gained  the  exact 
range  of  the  naval  battery,  and  thirteen-inch  shell 
from  the  castle  began  to  fall  all  around  and  close  to 
the  sandbags  throwing  up  loose  showers  of  soil.  One 
dropped  within  the  battery  but  upon  exploding,  hurt 
no  one.  The  round  shot  from  the  city  forts  were 
continually  grazing  the  parapets,  and  it  was  while 
Midshipman  T.  D.  Shubrick  was  levelling  his  gun 
and  pointing  it  at  a  tower  in  one  of  the  forts,  that  a 
round  shot  entered  the  embrasure  instantly  killing 
him.  During  the  two  days,  four  sailors  were  killed, 
mostly  by  solid  shot  in  the  head  or  chest  ;  while  five 
officers  and  five  men  were  wounded,  mostly  by  chap- 
paral  splinters  of  yucca,  or  cactus  thorns  and  spurs, 
and  fragments  of  sandbags. 

Meanwhile,  on  deck,  the  Commodore  co-operated 
in  the  "awful  activity"  of  the  American  batteries. 
At  daylight,  Perry,  seeing  that  the  castle  was 
paying  particular  attention  to  the  naval  battery, 
ordered  Tatnall  in  the  Spitfire  to  approach  and  open 
upon  it,  in  order  to  divert  the  fire  from  the  land 
forces.  Tatnall  asked  the  Commodore  at  what  point 
he  should  engage.  Perry  replied,  "  Where  you  can 
do  the  most  execution,  sir."  The  brave  Tatnall  took 
Perry  at  his  word.  With  the  Spitfire  and  the  Vixen, 
commanded  by  Joshua  R.  Sands,  each  having  two 
gun-boats  in  tow,  he  steamed  up  to  within  eighty 
yards  distance,  and  began  a  furious  cannonade  upon 
the  fortress  holding  his  position  for  a  half  hour. 
The  fight  resembled  a  certain  one,  pictured  on  a 


THE    NAVAL    BATTERY.  233 

Netherlands  historical  medal,  of  a  swarm  of  bees 
trying  to  sting  a  tortoise  to  death  despite  his  armor. 
Here  was  a  division  of  "  mosquito  boats "  blazing 
away  at  the  stone  castle  within  a  distance  which  had 
enabled  the  Mexicans  to  blow  them  out  of  the  water 
had  they  handled  their  guns  aright.  The  affair 
became  not  only  exciting  but  ludicrous,  when  Tatnall 
and  Sands  took  still  closer  quarters  within  the  Punto 
cle  Hornos,  where  the  little  vessels  were  at  first 
almost  hidden  from  view  in  the  clouds  of  spray 
raised  by  the  rain  of  balls  that  vexed  only  the  water. 
Tatnall's  idea  seemed  to  be  to  give  the  surgeons 
plenty  to  do.  Perry,  however,  did  not  believe  in 
that  sort  of  warfare.  When  he  saw  that  the  castle 
guns  which  had  been  trained  away  from  the  land  to 
the  ships  were  rapidly  improving  their  range,  he 
recalled  the  audacious  fighters. 

Tatnall  at  first  was  not  inclined  to  see  the  signals. 
The  Commodore  then  sent  a  boat's  crew  with  pre- 
emptory  orders  to  return.  Amid  the  cheers  of  the 
men  who  brought  them,  Tatnall  obeyed,  though 
raging  and  storming  with  chagrin.  Most  of  the  men 
on  board  his  ships  were  wet,  but  none  had  been  hurt. 
To  retreat  without  bloody  decks  was  not  to  his 
taste. 

General  Scott,  a  thorough  American,  had  long  rid 
himself  of  the  old  British  tradition,  that  in  all  wars 
there  must  be  -'a  big  butcher's  bill."  This  idea  was 
not  much  modified  until  after  the  Crimean  war, 
which  was  mostly  butchery,  and  little  science, —  mag- 


234  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

nificent,  but  not  war.  The  Soudan  campaign  of 
1884  threatened  a  revival  of  it.  We  have  seen  how 
this  idea  dominated  on  the  British  side,  in  the  wished- 
for  "yard  arm  engagements"  of  the  navy  in  1812, 
and  how,  in  place  of  it,  the  Americans  bent  their 
energies  to  skill  in  seamanship  and  gunnery  ;  or,  in 
other  words,  to  victory  by  science  and  skill. 

Perry  and  Scott  were  alike  in  their  ideas  and 
tastes,  they  regarded  war  more  as  the  application  of 
military  science  to  secure  national  ends  with  rapidit^r 
and  economy,  than  as  a  scrimmage  in  which  results 
were  measured  by  the  length  of  the  lists  of  killed 
and  wounded.  Tatnall,  a  veteran  of  the  old  school, 
however,  seemed  still  to  adhere  to  the  old  British 
ideal,  and  was  keenly  disappointed  to  find  so  few 
hurt  on  the  American  side. 

From  daybreak  to  one  p.  M.,  over  six  hundred 
Paixhans  shells  and  solid  shot  were  fired  into  the  city 
by  the  naval  battery.  Fort  St.  lago,  which  had  con 
centrated  its  fire  on  the  army  batteries,  now  opened 
on  the  naval  redoubt,  the  guns  of  which  were  at 
once  trained  in  the  direction  of  the  new  foe.  A  few 
applications  of  the  science  of  artillery  proved  the 
unerring  accuracy  of  Perry's  pupils,  and  St.  lago 
was  silenced. 

Captain  Mayo  and  his  officers  through  their  glasses 
saw  the  Mexicans  evacuate  the  fort.  Chagrined  at 
having  no  foemen  worthy  of  their  fire,  he  ordered 
both  officers  and  sailors  to  mount  the  parapet  and 
give  three  cheers.  "  If  the  enemy  intends  to  fire 


THE    NAVAL    BATTERY.  235 

another  shot,  our  cheers  will  draw  it,"  said  the 
gallant  little  Captain  ;  but  echo  and  then  silence  were 
the  only  answers.  The  naval  guns  having  opened 
the  breach  so  desired  by  General  Scott  and  silenced 
all  opposition,  had  now  nothing  further  to  do,  were 
again  left  to  cool.  The  naval  battery  had  fired  in  all 
thirteen  hundred  rounds. 

At  2  P.  M.,  Captain  Mayo  turned  over  the  command 
to  Lieutenant  Bissell  and  mounted  his  horse,  the 
only  one  on  the  ground,  to  give  Commodore  Perry 
the  earliest  information  of  the  enemy's  being  silenced. 
As  he  rode  through  the  camp,  General  Scott  was 
walking  in  front  of  his  tent.  Captain  Mayo  rode  up 
to  him  and  said  "  General,  they  are  done,  they  will 
never  fire  another  shot." 

The  General,  in  great  agitation,  asked  "  Who  ? 
Your  battery,  the  naval  battery  ?  " 

Mayo  answered,  "  No,  General,  the  enemy  is 
silenced.  They  will  not  fire  another  shot."  He 
then  related  what  had  occurred. 

General  Scott  in  his  joy  almost  pulled  Captain 
Mayo  off  his  horse,  saying  (to  use  his  own  expression) 
"  Commodore,  I  thank  you  and  our  brothers  of  the 
navy  in  the  name  of  the  army  for  this  day's  work."* 

The  General  then  went  on  and  complimented  in 
most  extravagant  terms  the  rapid  and  heavy  fire  of 
the  naval  battery  upon  the  enemy  ;  saying,  when  he 
was  informed  that  Captain  Mayo  had  sent  to  Perry 

*  Letter  of  Captain  Mayo  to  Commodore  M.  C.  Perry,  No 
vember  ^th,  1848. 


$  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

for  an  additional  supply  of  ammunition,  that  the  posi 
of  honor  and  of  danger  had  been  assigned  by  him  to 
the  navy.  The  General's  remarks  then  became 
more  personal.  He  said  "I  had  my  eye  upon  you, 
Captain  Mayo,  as  Midshipman,*  as  a  Lieutenant,  as 
a  Captain,  now  let  me  thank  you  personally  as 
Commodore  Mayo  for  this  day's  work." 

The  loss  of  the  second  day  in  the  navy  was  one- 
officer,  Shubrick,  and  one  sailor  killed  and  three 
wounded.  Lieutenant  Shubrick' s  monument  stands 
in  the  Annapolis  Naval  Academy's  grounds. 

On  Captain  Mayo's  notification  to  Perry  of  the  re 
sults  of  the  cannonade  by  navy  guns,  preparations 
for  assault  were  continued.  It  had  been  agreed  by 
General  Scott  and  Commodore  Perry  that  the  storm 
ing  party  should  consist  of  three  columns,  one  of 
sailors  and  marines,  one  of  the  regulars,  and  one  of 
volunteers.  Perry  had  resolved  to  head  his  column 
in  person,  and  had  already  ordered  ladders  made. 
The  part  assigned  to  the  navy  was  to  carry  the  sea. 
front.  Perry  had  also  planned  the  storming,  by  boat 
parties,  of  the  water  battery  of  the  castle  so  that  its 
guns  might  be  spiked.  For  this  a  dark  night  was 
necessary,  and  the  waning  of  the  moon  had  to  be 
awaited.  Perry  was  unable  to  get  into  the  position 
which  the  French  had  occupied  in  1839,  because  they 
had  treacherously  moved  there  in  time  of  peace  ;  as 
Courbet,  in  1882,  got  into  the  Min  river  at  Foo  Chow, 

*  Isaac  Mayo  was  on  the  Hornet,  in  her  capture  of  the  Penguin 
in  the  war  of  1812. 


THE    NAVAL    BATTERY.  237 

China.  For  the  attack  on  the  city,  ladders  were 
already  finished.  Having  no  other  material  at  hand, 
the  studding-sail  booms  of  the  Mississippi  had  been 
sawed  up,  and  the  navy  was  ready.  The  volunteers 
were  to  enter  through  the  breach  made  by  the  navy 
guns. 

The  relief  party  from  the  ships  under  Captain,  now 
Rear  Admiral  Breese,  took  their  places  in  the  naval 
battery  on  the  afternoon  of  the  25th,  ready  for 
another  day's  work  if  necessary.  But  this  was  not 
to  be.  The  Mexican  governor  ordered  a  parley  to  be 
sounded  from  the  city  walls  at  evening.  The 
signal  was  not  understood  by  our  forces,  and  the 
mortars  kept  belching  their  fire  all  night  long.  The 
next  morning,  the  26th,  a  white  flag  was  displayed  ; 
and  at  8  A.  M.,  all  the  batteries  ceased  their  fire,  and 
quietness  reigned  along  our  lines. 

A  conference  for  capitulation  was  held  at  the  lime 
kilns  at  Point  Hornos.  The  commissioners  from  the 
army  were  General  W.  T.  Worth,  and  Colonel  Totten 
of  the  engineers, —  Scott's  comrades-in-arms  at  Fort 
George  in  1813  —  and  General  Pillow,  who  com 
manded  a  brigade  of  volunteers  from  Tennessee.  By 
this  time,  another  frightful  norther  had  burst  upon 
land  and  sea.  Communication  with  the  ships  could 
not  be  held,  and  so  Perry  could  not  be  invited  to  sit 
with  the  commissioners,  for  which  General  Scott 
handsomely  apologized.  The  navy,  however,  was 
represented  by  the  senior  captain,  J.  H.  Aulick; 
while  Commander  Alexander  Slidell  Mackenzie,  a 


238  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

fluent  scholar  in  Spanish,  officiated  as  interpreter. 
These  officers  acted  in  the  convention  entirely  inde 
pendent  of  the  authority  of  the  General,  as  naval 
officers.  The  Mexican  commandant's  propositions 
were  rejected,  and  unconditional  surrender  was  dicta 
ted  and  accepted. 

In  the  great  norther  of  the  26th  of  March,  twenty- 
six  transports  went  ashore,  and  cargoes  to  the  amount 
of  half  a  million  of  dollars  were  lost.  On  the  night 
of  the  frightful  storm  there  was  bright  moonlight, 
and  the  vessels  driving  shoreward  to  their  doom  or 
dashing  on  the  rocks  were  seen  from  the  city.  • 

Unexpectedly  to  General  Scott,  Landero,  the  suc 
cessor  of  Morales  who  was  commandant  both  of  the 
city  and  castle,  made  unconditional  surrender  both 
at  once.  Scott  had  expected  to  take  the  city  first, 
and  then  with  the  navy  to  reduce  the  castle,  it  being 
unknown  to  him  that  Morales  held  command  at  both 
places.  It  may  safely  be  affirmed  that  the  moral 
effect  caused  by  the  tremendous  execution  of  the 
naval  battery  caused  this  unexpected  surrender  of  the 
castle.  Nevertheless  the  credit  of  the  fall  of  Vera 
Cruz  belongs  equally  to  three  men,  Conner,  Scott 
and  Perry. 

For  his  advance  into  the  interior,  General  Scott 
needed  animals  for  transportation,  and  with  Perry 
the  capture  of  Alvarado  was  planned.  Horses  were 
abundant  at  this  place,  and  good  water  was  plentiful. 
On  two  previous  occasions,  under  Conner,  attempts 
to  capture  this  town  had  proved  miserable  failures,  so 


THE    NAVAL    BATTERY.  239 

that  Perry  and  his  men  were  exceedingly  anxious  to 
succeed  in  securing  it  themselves.  It  was  hoped  too, 
that  an  imposing  demonstration  by  sea  and  land 
would,  since  Vera  Cruz  had  fallen,  intimidate  and 
conciliate  the  people  and  prevent  them  joining  Santa 
Anna.  As  usual,  Perry  distributed  the  honors  im 
partially  among  the  crews  of  many  vessels.  Quitman's 
cavalry  and  infantry  and  a  section  of  Steptoe's  ar 
tillery  went  by  land.  A  party  of  the  sailors  bridged 
the  rivers  for  the  soldiers. 

On  the  day  of  the  fall  of  Vera  Cruz,  Lieutenant 
Charles  G.  Hunter  of  the  Scourge  had  arrived.  He 
was  ordered  to  blockade  Alvarado,  and  report  to  Cap 
tain  Breese  of  the  Albany.  Hunter  seeing  signs  of  re 
treat,  without  waiting  for  orders  moved  his  vessel  in. 
He  found  the  guns  dismounted,  and  leaving  two  or 
three  men  in  the  deserted  place,  went  up  the  river  to 
Tlacahalpa,  firing  right  and  left  at  whatever  seemed 
an  enemy.  As  not  an  ounce  of  Mexican  powder  was 
burned  in  opposition  the  whole  act  seemed  one  of 
theatrical  bravado.  He  left  no  word  to  his  superior 
officers,  only  directing  a  midshipman  to  write  to 
General  Quitman.  The  cavalry  on  arriving  found 
the  town  had  surrendered. 

Perry  ordered  the  arrest  of  Hunter,  preferred 
charges  against  him,  and  after  court  martial  he 
was  dismissed  from  the  squadron.  The  people  at 
home  feasted  and  toasted  him,  and  "  Alvarado 
Hunter  "  was  the  hero  of  the  hour,  while  Perry  was 
made  the  target  of  the  newspapers.  Hunter's  subse- 


24O  MATTHEW     CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

quent  career  is  the  best  commentary  upon  the  act  of 
Commodore  Perry,  and  a  full  justification  of  it.* 
Between  gallantry,  and  bravado  coupled  with  a  selfish 
breach  of  discipline,  Perry  made  a  clear  distinction 
and  acted  upon  his  convictions. 

Of  the  sixty  guns  found  at  Alvarado  thirty-five 
were  shipped  as  trophies  and  twenty-five  were 
destroyed. 

Midshipman  Robert  C.  Rodgers  had  been  captured 
by  the  Mexicans  near  the  wall  of  Vera  Cruz  and  was 
imprisoned  in  the  castle  of  Perote  as  a  spy.  Though 
Scott  wanted  to  be  the  sole  channel  of  communica 
tion  with  the  Mexican  government,  Perry  claimed 
equal  power  in  all  that  relates  to  the  navy.  He  sent 
Lieutenant  Raphael  Semmes  (afterwards  of  Confede- 
ate  and  Alabama  fame)  with  the  army  for  the  pur 
pose.  Scott  refused  to  allow  him  to  communicate, 
but  permitted  him  to  remain  one  of  the  general's  aids. 
Semmes  was  thus  enabled  to  see  the  battles  of  the 
campaign,  the  story  of  which  he  has  told  in  his  inter 
esting  book. 

One  of  Perry's  favorite  young  officers  at  this  time 
was  Lieutenant  James  S.  Thornton  afterwards  the 
efficient  executive  officer  on  the  Kearsarge  in  her 
conflict  with  the  Alabama. 


*  Captain  W.  H.  Parker's  "Recollections  oi  a  Naval  Officer," 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  NAVAL  BRIGADE.       CAPTURE  OF  TABASCO. 

COMMODORE  MATTHEW  C.  PERRY  was  one  of  the 
first  American  naval  officers  to  overcome  the  preju 
dice  of  seamen  against  infantry  drill,  and  to  form  a  corps 
of  sailor-soldiers.  Under  his  predecessor,  the  navy 
had  lost  more  than  one  opportunity  of  gaining  distinc 
tion  because  unable  to  compete  with  infantry,  or  to 
face  cavalry  in  the  open  field.  Perry  formed  the  first 
United  States  naval  brigade,  though  Stockton  in  Cal 
ifornia  employed  a  few  of  his  sailors  as  marines  in 
garrison.  The  men  of  Perry's  brigade  numbering 
twenty-five  hundred,  with  ten  pieces  of  artillery,  were 
thoroughly  drilled  first  in  the  manual  of  arms  and  then 

O         J 

in  company  and  battalion  formations  under  his  own 
eye.  His  first  employment  of  part  of  this  body  was 
at  Tuspan.  Twenty-two  days  after  the  fall  of  Vera 
Cruz,  and  on  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo,  the 
bar  at  the  river's  mouth  was  crossed  by  the  light  ships, 
the  fort  stormed,  and  Tuspan  "  taken  at  a  gallop  !" 
Obliged  to  give  up  his  marines  to  General  Franklin 
Pierce,  Perry  drilled  his  sailors  all  the  more,  so  that 
little  leisure  was  allowed  them. 

The  capture  of  Tabasco  involved  the  problem  of 
fighting  against  infantry,  posted  behind  breastworks, 


242  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

with  sailors.  This  was  somewhat  novel  work  for  our 
navy.  Hitherto  all  our  naval  traditions  were  of  squad 
ron  fights  in  line,  ship-to-ship  duels,  or  boat  expedi 
tions.  In  the  present  case  the  flotilla  was  to  ascend 
a  narrow  and  torturous  river  to  the  distance  of  nearly 
seventy  miles  through  an  enemy's  country  densely 
covered  with  vegetation  that  afforded  a  continuous 
cover  for  riflemen,  and  then  to  attack  heavy  shore 
batteries. 

From  various  points  on  the  coast,  the  ships  and 
steamers  assembled  like  magic,  and  on  Monday  morn 
ing,  June  14,  1847,  the  squadron  came  to  anchor  off 
the  mouth  of  the  Tabasco  river.  The  detachments 
from  eleven  vessels,  numbering  1084  seamen  and 
marines  in  forty  boats,  were  under  the  Commodore's 
immediate  direction  and  command.  He  had  prepared 
the  plan  of  attack  with  great  care.  Every  contingency 
was  foreseen  and  provided  against,  and  the  minutest 
details  were  subject  to  his  thoughtful  elaboration. 

At  that  point  of  the  river  called  the  Devil's  Bend, 
danger  was  apprehended.  Here  the  dense  chapparal 
feathered  down  to  the  river's  edge  affording  a  splen 
did  opportunity  for  ambush.  The  alert  Commodore 
was  standing  on  the  upper  waist  deck  of  the  Scorpion 
under  the  awnings  entirely  exposed,  on  the  look-out 
for  the  enemy.  Suddenly,  as  the  flag-ship  reached 
the  elbow,  from  the  left  side  of  the  river  the  guns  of 
at  least  a  hundred  men  blazed  forth  in  a  volley,  fol 
lowed  by  a  dropping  fire.  In  an  instant  the  awnings 
were  riddled  and  all  the  upper  works  of  wood  and  iron 


CAPTURE    OF    TABASCO.  243 

scratched,  dented,  and  splintered,  by  the  spatter  of 
lead  and  copper.  Strange  to  say,  not  a  single  man 
on  the  Scorpion  was  touched  by  the  volley  though  a 
sailor  on  the  Vesuviiis  was  hit  later. 

As  the  smoke  curled  up  from  the  chapparal,  Perry 
pointed  with  his  glass  to  the  guns  still  flashing,  and 
gave,  or  rather  roared  out,  the  order  "Fire."  The 
guns  of  the  Scorpion,  Washington  and  the  surf-boats, 
with  a  rattling  fusillade  of  small  arms,  soon  mowed 
great  swaths  in  the  jungle.  From  the  masthead  of 
the  Stromboli)  a  number  of  cavalry  were  seen  beyond 
the  jungle.  A  ten-inch  shell,  from  the  eight-ton  gun 
of  the  Vesuvius,  exploding  among  them,  seemed  to 
the  enemy  to  be  an  attack  in  the  rear,  cutting  off  their 
retreat,  and  they  scattered  wildly.  Very  few  of  the 
Mexicans  took  time  to  reload  or  fire  a  second  shot. 

It  was  now  past  six  o'clock  and  it  was  determined 
to  anchor  for  the  night.  The  whole  squadron  assem 
bled  in  the  Devil's  Turn,  and  anchored  in  sight  of  the 
Seven  Palm  Trees  below  which  the  obstructions  had 
been  sunk.  Due  precautions  were  taken  against  a 
night  attack,  as  the  dense  chapparal  was  only  twenty 
yards  distant.  A  barricade  of  hammocks  was  there 
fore  thrown  up  on  the  bulwarks  for  protection,  and 
the  sailors,  as  soldiers  are,  in  rhetoric,  said  to  do, 
"  slept  on  their  arms."  But  one  volley  was  received 
from  the  shore  during  the  night,  the  air  only  receiv 
ing  injury. 

The  enemy  had  placed  obstructions  at  the  bar  to 
prevent  the  further  ascent  of  our  forces.  The  Com- 


244  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

modore,  early  in  the  morning,  dispatched  two  boats 
with  survey  officers  to  reconnoitre  and  sound  a  chan 
nel.  These  drew  the  fire  of  a  breastwork,  La  Comena, 
on  the  shore,  which  severely  wounded  Lieutenant  Wil 
liam  May. 

The  boats  having  been  unable  to  find  a  channel, 
Perry  gave  orders  to  land.  With  grape,  bombs,  and 
musketry,  the  fleet  cleared  the  ground,  and  then  Perry 
gave  the  order,  "Prepare  to  land,"  and  led  the  way  in 
his  barge  with  his  broad  pennant  flying.  All  eyes 
watched  his  movements  as  he  pulled  up  the  river. 
When  opposite  the  Palms,  he  steered  for  the  shore, 
and  with  his  loud,  clear  voice  heard  fore  and  aft,  called 
out,  "  Three  cheers,  and  land!"  The  cheers  were 
given  with  enthusiasm,  and  then  every  oar  bent.  His 
boat  was  the  first  to  strike  the  beach,  and  the  Com 
modore  was  the  first  man  to  land.  With  Captain 
Mayo  and  his  aids,  he  dashed  up  the  nearly  perpen 
dicular  bank,  and  unfurled  his  broad  pennant  in  the 
sight  of  the  whole  line  of  boats.  Instantly  three 
deafening  cheers  again  rang  out  from  the  throats  of  a 
thousand  men  who  panted  to  be  near  it  and  share  its 
fortunes.  It  was  a  sight  so  unusual,  for  a  naval  Com 
mander-in-chief,  to  take  the  field  under  such  circum 
stances  at  the  head  of  his  command,  that  the  enthusi 
asm  of  our  tars  was  unbounded  and  irrepressible. 
They  bent  to  their  oars  with  a  will  and  pulled  for  the 
shore. 

The  artillery  and  infantry  were  quickly  landed  on 
the  narrow  flats  at  the  base  of  the  high  banks. 


CAPTURE    OF    TABASCO.  245 

Reaching  these,  the  infantry  were  formed  in  line 
within  ten  minutes.  Then  came  the  tug-work  of 
drawing  seven  field  pieces  up  a  bank  four  rods  high, 
and  slanting  only  twenty-five  feet  from  a  perpendic 
ular.  With  plenty  of  rope  and  muscle  the  work  was 
accomplished.  Three  more  pieces  were  landed  later 
from  the  bomb  ketches  and  added  as  a  reserve. 
Most  of  the  landing  was  done  in  five,  and  all  within 
ten,  minutes.  In  half  an  hour  after  the  Commodore 
first  set  foot  on  land,  the  column  was  in  motion  as 
follows  :  — 

The  pioneers  far  in  advance  under  Lieutenant 
Maynard,  the  marines  under  Captain  Edson,  the 
artillery  under  Captain  Alexander  Slidell  Mackenzie, 
and  the  detachments  of  seamen  under  the  various 
captains  to  whose  ships  they  severally  belonged. 
Captain  Mayo  acted  as  adjutant  general,  the  Commo 
dore  giving  his  personal  attention  to  every  movement 
of  the  whole.  In  this,  as  in  all  things,  Perry  was  a 
master  of  details. 

The  march  upon  Tabasco  now  began,  the  burly 
Commodore  being  at  the  front.  Through  a  skirt  of 
jungle,  then  for  a  mile  through  a  clear  plain,  and 
again  in  the  woods,  they  soon  came  in  sight  of  Aca- 
chapan  where  an  advancing  company  of  a  hundred 
musket-men  opened  fire  on  our  column.  At  this 
chosen  place,  the  Mexican  general  had  intended  to 
give  battle,  having  here  the  main  body  of  his  army 
with  two  field  pieces  and  a  body  of  cavalry.  At  the 
first  fire  of  the  Mexican  musketry,  our  field  pieces 


246  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

were  got  into  position,  and  a  few  round  shots,  well 
served,  put  the  lessening  numbers  of  the  enemy  to 
flight.  The  terrible  execution  so  quickly  done 
showed  the  Mexicans  that  the  Americans  had  landed 
not  as  a  mob  of  sailors  but  a  body  of  drilled  infantry 
with  artillery.  A  change  came  over  the  spirit  of  the 
orator,  Bruno,  and  he  fell  back  in  his  intrenchments. 
The  road  wound  near  the  water  and  the  march  was 
re-commenced. 

Meanwhile  the  ships  left  in  the  river  were  not 
idle.  The  flotilla,  led  by  the  Spitfire  under  Lieuten 
ant,  now  Admiral  Porter,  had  passed  the  obstructions, 
and  according  to  Perry's  orders,  were  gallantly  as 
cending  near  the  fort  and  town.  The  three  hearty 
cheers  which  were  exchanged  between  ships  and 
shore  when  the  two  parties  caught  sight  of  each 
other,  greatly  intimidated  the  veteranos  in  the  fort. 
Behind  the  deserted  breastworks  of  Acachapan, 
our  men  found  the  usual  signs  of  sudden  and  speedy 
exit.  Clothes,  bedding  and  cooking  utensils  were 
visible.  The  bill  of  fare  for  the  breakfast  all  ready, 
but  untasted,  consisted  of  boiled  beef,  tortillas, 
squash  and  corn  in  several  styles. 

Without  delaying  here,  the  advance  column  passed 
on  and  rested  under  several  enormous  scyba  trees 
near  a  lagoon  of  water.  Officers  and  men  had  earned 
rest,  for  the  work  of  hauling  field  pieces  in  tropical 
weather  along  narrow,  swampy  and  tortuous  roads, 
and  over  rude  corduroy  bridges  hastily  constructed 
by  the  pioneers,  was  toilsome  in  the  extreme.  In 


CAPTURE    OF    TABASCO.  247 

some  cases  the  wheels  of  a  gun  carriage  would  sink 
to  their  hubs  requiring  a  whole  company  to  drag 
them  out.  Some  of  the  best  officers  and  most  athletic 
seamen  fainted  from  heat  and  excessive  fatigue,  but 
reviving  with  rest  and  refreshment,  resumed  their 
labors  with  zeal  that  inspired  the  whole  line.  This 
march  overland  of  a  naval  force  with  artillery  along 
an  almost  roadless  country  seemed  to  demoralize 
both  the  veterans  and  militia  in  fort  and  trenches. 

The  Spitfire  and  Scorpion  passed  up  the  river  un 
molested  until  within  range  of  Fort  Iturbide,  a  shot 
from  which  cut  the  paddle  wheel  of  the  Spitfire. 
Without  being  disabled,  the  steamer  moved  on  and 
got  in  the  rear  of  the  fortification,  pouring  in  so 
rapid  and  accurate  a  fire,  that  the  garrison  soon  lost 
all  spirit  and  showed  signs  of  flinching.  Seeing  this, 
Lieutenant,  now  Admiral,  Porter  landed  with  sixty- 
eight  men  and  under  an  irregular  fire  charged  and 
captured  it,  the  Mexicans  flying  in  all  directions. 
The  town  was  then  taken  possession  of  by  a  force 
detailed  from  the  two  steamers,  under  Captain  S.  S. 
Lee,  Lieutenant  Porter  remaining  in  command  of  the 
Spitfire. 

When  the  Commodore  at  2  o'clock  P.  M.  arrived  at 
the  ditch  and  breastworks,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from 
the  fort,  and  in  sight  of  the  town,  he  found  the  de 
serted  place  well  furnished  with  cooked  dinners  and 
cast  off  but  good  clothing.  The  advance  now  waited 
until  the  straggling  line  closed  up,  so  that  the 
whole  force  might  enter  the  city  in  company.  Soon 


248  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

after  reaching  the  fort  which  mounted  two  six,  three 
twenty-eight,  and  one  twenty-four  pounder  guns  with 
numerous  pyramids  of  shot  and  stands  of  grape,  they 
found  the  men  from  the  ships  in  possession,  and  the 
stars  and  stripes  floated  above,  and  each  dctachmc  it 
of  the  column,  as  it  entered,  cheered  with  enthusiasm. 

The  Commodore  and  his  aids  were  escorted  by  the 
marines  and  the  force  marched,  company  front,  to  the 
plaza.  They  moved  almost  at  a  run  up  the  sterp 
street,  'the  band  playing  Yankee  Doodle.  Bruno's 
prophecy  was  fulfilled,  but  without  Bruno.  A  few  of 
the  citizens  and  foreign  merchants  and  consuls  whose 
flags  were  flying  welcomed  the  Commodore.  The 
rain  was  now  falling  heavily  and,  as  the  public  build 
ings  were  closed,  and  no  one  seemed  to  have  the 
keys,  the  doors  were  forced.  Quarters  were  duly 
assigned  to  the  Commodore,  staff  and  marines.  The 
artillery  was  parked  in  the  arcades  of  the  plaza,  so  as 
to  command  all  the  approaches  to  the  city,  and  the 
men  rested.  Even  the  Commodore  had  walked  the 
entire  distance,  only  one  animal,  an  old  mule,  having 
been  captured  on  the  way  and  reserved  for  the 
hospital  party. 

Six  days  were  spent  at  Tabasco.  From  the  first 
hour  of  arriving,  the  Commodore  made  ample  provis 
ion  for  good  order,  health,  economy,  revenue,  and  the 
honor  of  the  American  name.  The  scenes  on  the  open 
square  during  the  American  occupation,  the  tattoo, 
reveille,  evening  and  morning  gun,  the  hourly  cry  of 
"all's  well,"  the  shrill  whistle  of  the  boatswain,  and 


CAPTURE    OF    TABASCO.  249 

the  occasional  summons  of  all  hands  to  quarters, 
showed  that,  with  perfect  discipline,  the  naval  batal- 
lion  of  the  Home  Squadron  was  perfectly  at  home  in 
Tabasco,  and  that  the  sailors  could  act  like  good 
soldiers  on  land  as  well  as  keep  discipline  aboard  ship. 

The  large  guns  and  war  relics  were  put  on  board 
the  flotilla,  but  the  other  military  stores  were  de 
stroyed.  Captain  A.  Bigelow  was  left  in  command  of 
the  city  with  four  hundred  and  twenty  men.  Perry's 
orders  against  pillage  were  very  stringent.  He 
meant  to  show  that  the  war  was  not  against  peaceful 
non-belligerents,  but  against  the  Mexican  official 
class.  Perry  highly  commended  Captain  Edson  and 
his  body  of  marines  for  their  share  of  the  work  at 
Tabasco.  His  approbation  of  these  men,  who  for 
nine  months  had  served  under  his  immediate  eye,  was 
warm  and  sincere.  They  afterwards  did  good  service 
before  the  gates  and  in  the  city  of  Mexico.  Perry 
wrote  of  the  marines,  "  I  repeat  what  I  have  often 
said,  that  this  distinguished  and  veteran  corps  is  one  of 
the  most  effective  and  valuable  arms  of  the  service." 

The  capture  of  Tabasco,  whose  commercial  impor 
tance  was  second  to  that  of  Vera  Cruz,  was  the  last 
of  the  notable  naval  operations  of  the  war.  So  far  as 
the  navy  was  concerned,  the  campaign  was  over,  un 
less  the  sailors  should  turn  soldiers  altogether,  for 
every  one  of  the  Gulf  ports  was  in  American  hands. 
Since  the  fall  of  Vera  Cruz,  the  navy  had  captured 
six  cities  with  their  fortresses  and  ninty-three  can 
non.  This  work  was  all  done  on  shore,  off  the  proper 


25O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

element  of  a  naval  force.  In  addition  to  these  opera 
tions,  the  Commodore  demanded  and  received  from 
Yucatan  her  neutrality,  carried  into  effect  at  the  ports 
the  regulation  of  the  United  States  Treasury  Depart 
ment  for  raising  revenue  from  the  Mexicans,  and  found 
leisure  to  erect  a  spacious  and  comfortable  hospital  on 
the  island  of  Salmadina  equipped  with  all  the  comforts 
obtainable.  This  preparation  for  the  disease  cer 
tain  to  come  among  unacclimated  men  was  most 
opportune. 

About  this  time  Perry  sent  home  to  the  United 
States  in  the  Raritan,  in  care  of  Captain  Forest,  the 
guns  captured  at  various  places.  Three  of  the  six  at 
Tabasco  were  assigned  to  the  Annapolis  Naval  Aca 
demy  to  be  used  for  drill  purposes.  This  was  also  in 
compliment  to  the  first  graduates  of  the  institution, 
several  of  whom  were  serving  in  the  Mexican  cam 
paign,  as  well  as  its  first  principal  Captain  Franklin 
Buchanan. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

FIGHTING    THE    YELLOW    FEVER.       PEACE. 

AFTER  his  exploits  at  Tuspan,  Tabasco  and  Yuca 
tan,  Perry,  having  captured  every  port  and  landing 
place  along  the  whole  eastern  coast  of  Mexico,  and 
established  a  strict  blockade,  thereby  maintaining  in 
tact  the  base  of  supplies  for  the  army  in  the  interior, 
turned  his  attention  to  new  foes.  Bands  of  guerrillas, 
the  fragments  of  the  armies  which  Scott  had  de 
stroyed,  were  not  the  only  things  to  be  feared.  Mos 
quitoes  and  winged  vermin  of  many  species,  malarial, 
yellow  and  other  fevers  —  two  great  hosts  —  were  to 
be  fought  night  and  day  without  cessation. 

It  is  said  that  in  northern  Corea,  "the  men  hunt 
the  tigers  during  six  months  in  the  year,  and  the 
tigers  hunt  the  men  during  the  other  six  months." 
In  Mexico,  along  the  coast,  the  northers  rage  during 
one  half  of  the  year,  while  the  yellow  fever  reigns 
through  the  other  half,  maintaining  the  balance  of 
power  and  an  equilibrium  of  misery. 

Fire  broke  out  on  the  Mississippi,  owing  to  sponta 
neous  combustion  of  impure  coal  put  on  board  at 
Norfolk,  in  a  wet  condition.  It  was  extinguished  only 
by  pumping  water  into  the  coal-bunkers.  Through  this 
necessity,  the  flag-ship,  which  had  thus  far  defied  the 


252  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

powers  of  air,  sun  and  moisture,  became  a  foothold 
of  pestilence.  Yellow  fever  broke  out,  and,  towards 
the  end  of  July,  the  Mississippi  had  to  be  sent  t ) 
Pensacola. 

Perry  shifted  his  flag  to  the  Germantown,  (a  fin  * 
old  frigate  fated  to  be  burned  at  Norfolk  in  1861  , 
Capt.  Buchanan,  and  sailed  July  16,  to  inquire  after 
the  health  of  the  men  on  blockade  and  garrison  duty 
in  the  ports,  while  the  two  hundred  or  more  patients 
of  the  Mississippi  quickly  convalesced  in  Florida. 

Northers  and  vomtto,  though  depended  on  by  tli2 
Mexicans  to  fight  in  their  courses  against  the  Yar- 
kees,  did  not  work  together  in  the  same  time.  Tho 
northers  thus  far  had  kept  back  the  yellow  fever,  but 
now  while  Scott's  army  moved  in  the  salubrious  high 
lands  of  the  interior,  the  unacclimated  sailors  remain 
ing  on  the  pestilential  coast  were  called  to  fight  disease, 
insects,  and  banditti,  at  once.  They  must  hold  port:; 
with  pitifully  small  garrisons,  enforcing  financial  reg 
ulations,  and  grappling  with  villainous  consuls  who 
desecrated  their  national  flags  by  smuggling  from 
Havana,  and  by  harboring  the  goods  of  the  enemy. 
Many  so-called  "consuls"  in  Mexican  ports  were 
never  so  accredited,  and  could  not  appreciate  the 
liberal  policy  of  the  United  States  towards  neutrals. 

While  the  plague  was  impending,  there  was  a  woe 
ful  lack  of  medical  officers  ;  one  surgeon  on  seven 
ships  at  anchor,  and  two  assistant  surgeons  in  the 
hospital,  composing  the  medical  staff.  The  patients 
at  Salmadina  did  well,  but  the  fever  broke  out  amoriL; 


FIGHTING    THE    YELLOW    FEVER.  253 

the  merchant  vessels  at  Vera  Cruz  and  the  foreign 
men-of-war  at  Sacrificios. 

By  the  middle  of  August,  the  sickly  season  was 
well  advanced,  and  with  so  many  of  the  large  ships 
sent  home  for  the  health  of  the  men,  Perry's  force 
was  small  enough,  while  yet  the  guerrillas  were  as 
lively  and  seemingly  as  numerous  and  ubiquitous  as 
mosquitoes.  Fortunately  for  the  American  cause, 
some  of  the  most  noted  of  the  guerrilla  chiefs  fell  out 
among  themselves  and  came  to  blows. 

Perry  wrote  to  Washington  earnestly  requesting 
that  marines  be  sent  out  to  act  as  flankers  to  parties 
of  seamen  landed  to  cut  off  guerrilla  parties.  In  the 
night  attacks  which  were  frequent,  the  men  and 
officers  had  to  stand  to  their  guns  for  long  hours  in 
drenching  dews  and  heavy  miasma. 

The  conditions  of  life  on  the  low  malarious  Mexi 
can  coast  are  at  any  time,  trying  to  the  thick-skinned 
whites,  and  unacclimated  men  from  the  north  ;  but, 
in  war  time,  the  dangers  were  vastly  increased.  The 
marines  left  at  the  ports  when  on  duty  had  to  endure 
the  piercing  rays  of  the  sun  at  mid-day  and  the  heavy 
dews  at  midnight,  and  to  beat  off  the  guerrillas  who 
skirmished  in  darkness.  Added  to  this,  were  the 
investigations  or  excavations  which  mosquitoes,  sand- 
flies,  centipedes,  scorpions  and  tarantulas,  were  con 
tinually  making  into  the  human  flesh  with  every  sort 
of  digging,  fighting,  chewing,  sucking,  and  stinging 
instruments  with  which  the  inscrutable  wisdom  of 
the  Almighty  has  endowed  them.  Added  to  these 


254  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

foes    without,    was    that   peculiar   form    of   deliriiin> 
tremens  prevailing  along  the  rivers  and  brought  on  by 
tropical  heat  with  which  some  of  the  Americans  were 
afflicted.     The  victims,  prompted  by  an    irresistible 
desire  to  throw  themselves  into  the  water,  were  oftci 
drowned.     Hitherto  only  known  in  Dryden's  poetry 
American  officers  now  bore  witness  to  its  violence. 

On  the  ships,  the  miasma  arising  from  decaying 
kelp  washed  upon  the  barren  reefs  and  decomposed 
by  the  sun's  rays  created  the  atmospheric  condition* 
well  suited  for  the  spread  of  vomito.  A  sour  nausea 
ting  effluvia  blew  over  the  ships  all  night,  and  easily 
operated  upon  the  spleen  or  liver  of  those  who,  from 
exposure,  fatigue  or  intemperate  habits,  were  most 
predisposed. 

The  Commodore  convened  a  board  of  medical  offi 
cers  on  board  the  Mississippi  prior  to  her  departure 
to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  the  disorder.  In  their 
opinion,  it  was  atmospheric, —  a  theory  justified  by 
the  fact  that  patients  convalesced  as  soon  as  the 
ships  moved  out  to  sea.  The  theory  of  inocculation 
by  flies,  mosquitoes  and  other  insects  was  not  then 
demonstrated  as  now,  though  for  other  reasons  net 
ting  was  a  boon  and  protection  to  the  hospital 
patients. 

One  of  the  first  cases,  if  not  the  very  first  case,  of 
yellow  fever  attacking  a  ship's  crew  in  the  American 
navy  was  that  on  board  the  General  Greene,  com 
manded  by  M.  C.  Perry's  father  in  1799.  Coming 
north  from  the  West  Indies  to  get  rid  of  the  disease, 


FIGHTING    THE    YELLOW    FEVER.  255 

it  broke  out  again  at  Newport.  So  virulent  was  the 
contagion,  that  even  bathers  in  the  water  near  the 
ship,  were  attacked  by  it.  The  memories  of  his 
childhood,  which  had  long  lain  in  his  memory  as  a 
dream,  became  painfully  vivid  to  the  Commodore  as 
he  visited  the  yellow  fever  hospital,  and  saw  so  many 
gallant  officers  and  brave  men  succumb  to  the 
scourge.  "  King  Death  sat  in  his  yellow  robe." 
Soon  even  the  robust  form  of  the  Commodore  suc- 
•cufhbed  to  the  severe  labors  exposure  and  responsi 
bilities  laid  upon  him,  though  fortunately  he  escaped 
the  yellow  fever.  Four  officers  died  in  one  week  ;  but 
Perry,  after  a  season  of  sickness,  recovered,  and,  on 
the  approach  of  autumn  was  up  again  and  active. 

The  expression  of  thanks  to  the  navy  for  its  ser 
vices  was  only  to  an  extent  that  may  be  called 
niggardly.  Perry  had  sometimes  to  apply  the  art  of 
exegesis  to  find  the  desired  passage  containing  praise. 
After  the  brilliant  Tuspan  affair,  he  discovered  a 
fragment  of  a  paragraph,  in  a  dispatch  alluding  to 
other  matters,  which  was  evidently  intended  to  mean 
thanks.  Instead  of  reading  it  on  the  quarter-deck, 
he  mentioned  it  informally  to  his  officers,  lest  the 
men  should  be  discouraged  by  such  faint  praise.  In 
reponse  to  the  compliments  of  the  city  authorities 
of  New  York  and  Washington,  Perry  made  due 
acknowledgment. 

The  truth  seems  to  be  that  Matthew  Perry  was 
not  personally  in  favor  with  the  authorities  at  Wash 
ington.  He  had  won  his  position  and  honors  by 


256  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

sheer  merit,  and  had  compelled  praise  which  else  had 
been  withheld.  In  this  matter,  he  was  not  alone,  for 
even  Scott  gained  his  brilliant  victories  without  the 
personal  sympathies  or  good  wishes  of  the  Adminis 
tration. 

It  was  as  much  as  the  Commodore  of  the  great 
fleet  could  do  to  get  sufficient  clerical  aid  to  assist 
him  in  his  vast  correspondence  and  other  pen-work, 
so  great  was  the  fear  at  Washington,  that  the  public 
funds  would  be  squandered. 

Perry  persistently  demanded  more  light  draft 
steamers  drawing  not  over  seven  and  a  half  feet  and 
armed  with  but  one  heavy  gun,  for  river  work. 
Mexico  is  a  country  without  one  navigable  river,  and 
only  the  most  buoyant  vessels  could  cross  the  bars. 
He  plead  his  needs  so  earnestly  that  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  John  T.  Mason,  took  him  to  task.  It  is 
probable  that  the  very  brilliancy  of  the  victories  of 
both  our  army  and  navy  in  Mexico,  blinded,  not  only 
the  general  public,  but  the  administration  to  the 
arduous  nature  of  the  service,  and  to  the  greatness  of 
the  difficulties  overcome.  The  campaign  of  the  army 
was  spoken  of  as  a  "picnic,"  and  that  of  the  navy  as 
a  "yachting  excursion."  Certain  it  is  that  the 
administration  seemed  more  anxious  to  make  politi 
cal  capital  out  of  the  war,  than  either  to  appreciate 
the  labors  of  its  servants  or  the  injustice  done  to  the 
Mexicans. 

In  all  his  dispatches,  Perry  was  unstinting  in  his. 
praise  of  the  army,  to  whose  success  he  so  greatly 


FIGHTING    THE    YELLOW    FEVER.  2$? 

contributed.  From  intercepted  letters,  he  learned 
that  the  presence  of  his  active  naval  force  had  kept 
large  numbers  of  the  Mexican  regulars  near  the  coast, 
and  away  from  the  path  of  Scott's  army.  He  had 
seriously  felt  the  loss  of  his  marines,  a  whole  regi 
ment  of  whom,  under  Colonel  Watson,  had  been 
taken  away  from  him  to  go  into  the  interior.  Never 
theless,  he  remitted  no  activity,  but,  by  constantly 
threatening  various  points,  the  coast  was  kept  in 
alarm  so  that  Mexican  garrisons  had  to  remain  at 
every  landing  place  along  the  water  line.  He  thus 
contributed  powerfully  to  the  final  triumph  of  our 
arms.  On  the  3Oth  of  September,  he  heard  with 
gratification  of  the  entry,  thirteen  days  before,  of 
Scott's  army  into  the  city  of  Mexico.  During 
November  and  December,  the  Commodore  made 
several  cruises  up  and  down  the  coast,  firmly  main 
taining  the  blockade,  until  the  treaty  of  peace  was 
signed  at  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  February  2,  1848.  In 
Yucatan,  Perry  did  much  to  hasten  the  end  of  the 
war  of  race  and  caste,  which  was  then  raging  between 
the  whites  and  the  Indian  peones  and  rancheros. 

Santa  Anna  who  had  concealed  himself  in  Pueblo, 
hoping  to  escape  by  way  of  Vera  Cruz,  opened  nego 
tiations  with  Perry,  who  replied,  that  he  would  re 
ceive  him  with  the  courtesy  due  to  his  rank,  provided 
he  would  surrender  himself  unconditionally  as  a 
prisoner  of  war.  It  turned  out  in  the  end,  that,  with 
out  let  or  hindrance  by  either  Mexicans  or  Americansj 
Santa  Anna  the  unscrupulous  and  avaricious,  left  his 


258  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

native  land,  April  5,  1848,  on  a  Spanish  brig  bound 
to  Jamaica.  Gallantly  but  vainly  he  had  tried  to 
resist  "  the  North  American  invasion."  After  seventy- 
eight  years  of  amazing  vicissitudes,  the  last  years 
of  his  life  being  spent  on  Staten  Island,  N.  Y.,  chiefly 
in  cock-fighting  and  card-playing,  he  died  June  20, 
1876,  at  Vera  Cruz.  He  was  the  incarnation  of  fickle 
and  ignorant  Mexico. 

The  re-embarkation  of  the  troops  homeward  began 
in  May.  The  city,  the  fortress,  and  the  custom-house 
of  Vera  Cruz,  were  restored  to  the  Mexican  govern 
ment,  June  11,  1848.  Four  days  later,  the  Commo 
dore  leaving  the  Germantown,  Saratoga  and  a  few 
smaller  vessels  in  the  gulf,  sent  the  other  men-of-war 
northward  to  be  repaired  or  sold.  The  frigate  Cum 
berland,  bearing  the  broad  pennant,  entered  New 
York  bay  July  23,  1848. 

In  the  war  between  two  republics,  the  American 
soldier  was  an  educated  freeman,  far  superior  in  phy 
sique  and  mental  power  to  his  foeman.  The  Mexi 
cans  were  docile  and  brave,  easily  taking  death  while 
in  the  ranks,  but  unable  to  stand  against  the  rush 
and  sustained  valor  of  the  American  troops  ;  while 
their  leaders  were  out-generaled  by  the  superior 
science  of  officers  who  had  been  graduated  from  West 
Point.  In  the  civil  war,  thirteen  years  later,  nearly 
all  the  leaders,  and  all  the  great  soldiers  on  both  sides, 
whose  reputations  withstood  the  strain  of  four  years' 
campaigning,  were  regularly  educated  army  officers 
who  had  graduated  from  the  school  of  service  in 


FIGHTING    THE    YELLOW    FEVER.  259 

Mexico.  It  was  the  preliminary  training  in  this 
foreign  war,  that  made  our  armies  of  '61,  more  than 
mobs,  and  gave  to  so  many  of  the  campaigns  the 
order  of  science.  The  Mexican  war  was  probably  the 
first  in  which  the  newspapers  made  and  unmade  the 
reputation  of  commanders,  and  the  war  correspond 
ent  first  emerged  as  a  distinct  figure  in  modern 
history.  Some  of  the  famous  sayings,  the  texture  of 
which  may  be  either  historically  plain,  or  rhetori 
cally  embroidered,  are  still  current  in  American 
speech.  Nor  will  such  phrases,  as  "  Rough  and 
Ready,"  "  Fuss  and  Feathers,"  "  A  little  more  grape, 
Captain  Bragg,"  "Wait,  Charlie,  till  I  draw  their 
fire,"  "Certainly  General,  but  I  must  fight  them," 
"Where  the  guns  go,  the  men  go  with  them,"  soon 
be  forgotten. 

As  to  the  rights  of  the  quarrel  with  Mexico,  most 
of  the  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  were  indifferent ; 
as  perhaps  soldiers  have  a  right  to  be,  seeing  the 
responsibility  rests  with  their  superiors,  the  civil 
rulers.  Matthew  Perry,  as  a  soldier,  felt  that  the 
war  was  waged  unjustly  by  a  stronger  upon  a  weaker 
nation,  and  endeavored,  while  doing  his  duty  in  obed 
ience  to  orders,  to  curtail  the  horrors  of  invasion. 
He  was  ever  vigilant  to  suppress  robbery,  rapine, 
cold-blooded  cruelty,  and  all  that  lay  outside  of  hon 
orable  war.  In  the  letters  written  to  his  biographer, 
by  fellow-officers,  are  many  instances  of  "  Old  Matt's  " 
shrewdness  in  preventing  and  severity  in  punishing 
wanton  pillage,  and  the  infliction  of  needless  pain 
on  man  or  beast. 


260  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  sentiments  of  the 
past,  despite  also  the  provocation  of  the  Mexico  of 
Santa  Anna's  time,  the  verdict  of  history  as  given 
by  Herbert  Bancroft,  will  now  find  echo  all  over  our 
common  country.  "  The  United  States  was  in  the 
wrong,  all  the  world  knows  it ;  all  honest  American 
citizens  acknowledge  it." 

President  Polk  and  his  party,  in  compelling  the 
war  with  Mexico,  meant  one  thing.  The  Almighty 
intended  something  different.  Politicians  and  slave 
holders  brought  on  a  war  to  extend  the  area  of  human 
servitude.  Providence  meant  it  to  be  a  war  for  free 
dom,  and  the  expansion  of  a  people  best  fitted  to 
replenish  and  subdue  the  new  land.  At  the  right 
moment,  the  time-locks  on  the  hidden  treasuries  of 
gold  drew  back  their  bolts,  and  a  free  people  entered 
to  change  a  wilderness  to  empire.  There  is  now  no 
slavery  in  either  the  new  or  the  old  parts  of  the 
United  States. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

RESULTS  OF  THE  WAR.   GOLD  AXD  THE  PACIFIC 
COAST. 

FROM  his  home  at  the  "  Moorings  "  by  the  Hudson, 
Perry  gave  his  attention  to  the  curiosities  and 
trophies  brought  home  from  Mexico.  Ever  jealous 
for  the  honor  of  the  navy,  he  noted  with  pain  a 
letter  written  by  General  Scott  to  Captain  H.  Brew- 
erton,  superintendent  of  the  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point,  which  was  published  in  the  newspapers 
October  i6th,  1848.  General  Scott  had  presented 
sections  of  several  Mexican  flag-staffs  captured  in  the 
campaign  that  commenced  at  Vera  Cruz  and  termin 
ated  in  the  capital  of  Mexico.  Three  of  them  were 
thus  inscribed  :  — 

i.  "  Part  of  the  flag-staff  of  the  castle  of  San  Juan 
d'Ulloa  taken  by  the  American  army  March  29th, 


2.  "  Part  of  the  flag-staff  of  Fort  San  lago,  Vera 
Cruz,  taken  by  the  American  army  March  29th,  1847." 

3.  "  Part  of  the  flag-staff  of  Fort  Conception,  Vera 
Cruz,  taken  by  the  American  army  March  29th,  1847." 


262  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

The  four  other  staves  from  Cerro  Gordo,  Perote, 
Chapultepec,  and  the  National  Palace  of  Mexico, 
were  in  truth  "taken  by  the  American  army"  with 
out  the  ajd  of  the  navy. 

Perry  believing  that  the  statements  in  the  para 
graphs  numbered  I,  2,  and  3,  were  not  strictly  true,, 
protested  in  a  letter  dated  Oct.  iQth,  1848,  to  the 
editors  of  the  Courier  and  Inquirer.  He  maintained 
that  the  city  and  castle  of  Vera  Cruz  "  surrendered 
not  to  the  army  alone,  but  to  the  combined  land  and 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States."  Appealing  to  the 
facts  of  history  concerning  the  bombardment  of  the 
city  by  the  squadron,  the  service  of  the  marines  in 
the  trenches,  and  of  the  ship's  guns  and  men  in  the 
naval  battery,  he  continued  :  — 

"  Negotiations  for  the  capitulation  of  the  city  and 
castle  were  conducted  on  the  part  of  the  squadron  by 
Captain  John  H.  Aulick,  assisted  by  the  late  Com 
mander  Mackenzie  as  interpreter,  both  delegated  by 
me,  and  as  commander-in-chief  at  the  time,  of  the 
United  States  naval  forces  serving  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  acting  in  co-operation  with,  but  entirely 
independent  of  the  authority  of  General  Scott,  I 
approved  of  and  signed  jointly  with  him  the  treaty  of 
capitulation." 

"  It  seems  to  be  a  paramount  duty  on  my  part 
to  correct  an  error  which,  if  left  unnoticed,  would  be 
the  source  of  great  and  lasting  injury  to  the  navy; 
and  it  may  reasonably  be  expected  that  General 
Scott  will  cause  the  inscriptions  referred  to  to  be  so 


RESULTS    OF    THE    WAR.  263 

altered  as  to  make  them  correspond  more  closely 
with  history."  In  proof  of  his  assertions,  Perry 
quoted  an  extract  from  General  Scott's  Orders 
referring  to  the  services  of  the  navy  in  blockade,  in 
disembarkation,  in  the  attack  on  the  city,  and  in  the 
battery  No.  5. 

Like  a  true  soldier,  Scott  made  speedy  correction 
on  the  brasses,  and  on  the  24th  of  October  wrote  to 
Captain  Brewerton,  "  Please  cause  the  plates  of  those 
three  objects  to  be  unscrewed,  efface  the  inscriptions 
and  renew  the  same  with  the  words  and  Navy  in 
serted  immediately  after  the  word  'Army.''  He 
added,  "  No  part  of  the  army  is  inclined  to  do  the 
sister  branch  of  our  public  defence  the  slightest 
injustice,  a-nd  that  I  ought  to  be  free  from  the  impu 
tation,  my  despatches  written  at  Vera  Cruz  abun 
dantly  show.  " 

As  commentary  on  the  last  line  above,  it  may  be 
stated  that  in  his  autobiography,  in  writing  of  Vera 
Cruz,  Scott  never  mentions  Commodore  Perry,  the 
navy,  or  the  naval  battery.  Biographies  of  Scott,  and 
makers  of  popular  histories,  basing  their  paragraphs 
on  ''Campaign  Lives  "  of  the  presidential  candidates, 
give  fulsome  praise  to  Scott,  and  due  credit  to  the 
army  ;  none,  or  next  to  none,  to  Perry  and  the  navy. 

The  enlarged  experience  gained  by  our  naval  men 
during  the  war  was  now  put  to  good  use,  and  two 
great  reforms,  the  abolition  of  flogging  and  the  grog 
ration,  were  earnestly  discussed.  The  captains  were 
called  upon  for  their  written  opinions.  These,  bound 


264  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

up  in  a  volume  now  in  the  navy  archives  at  Wash 
ington,  furnish  most  interesting  reading.  They  are 
part  of  the  history  of  the  progress  of  opinion  as  well 
as  of  morals  in  the  United  States.  The  proposition 
to  do  away  with  the  "  cat "  and  the  ''tot"  found 
earnest  and  uncompromising  opponents  in  officers  of 
the  old  school  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  credit 
of  reforms  now  well  established  has  been  claimed  by 
the  friends  of  more  than  one  eminent  officer.  Let 
us  look  at  Matthew  Perry's  record. 

As  early  as  1824,  Perry  had  studied  the  temperance 
question  from  a  naval  point  of  view.  He  was,  it  is 
believed,  the  first  officer  in  our  navy  to  propose  the 
partial  abolition  of  liquor,  which  was  at  that  time 
served  to  boys  as  well  as  to  men.  This  reform,  he 
suggested  in  a  letter  to  the  Department,  dated 
January  25th,  1824.  His  endeavor  to  stop  the  grog 
ration  from  minors  was  a  stroke  in  behalf  of  sound 
moral  principles  and  a  plea  for  order.  With  a  high 
opinion  of  the  marines,  and  their  well-handled  bayo 
nets  —  before  which,  the  most  stubborn  sailor's 
mutiny  breaks, —  Perry  yet  wished  to  take  away  one 
of  the  fomenting  causes  of  evil  on  shipboard.  When 
a  midshipman,  Perry  was  heartily  opposed  to  strong 
drink  for  boys,  and  especially  to  the  indiscriminate 
grog  system  licensed  by  government  on  ships  of  war. 
In  his  diary  kept  on  board  the  President,  the  lad 
notes,  with  sarcastic  comment,  the  frequent  calls  for 
whiskey  from  certain  vessels  of  the  squadron,  es 
pecially  the  Argus,  the  crew  of  which  had  a  repu 
tation  for  a  thirst  of  a  kind  not  satisfied  with  water. 


RESULTS    OF    THE    WAR.  265 

Perry's  letter  dated  New  York,  February  4th,  1850, 
fills  eleven  pages,  and  shows  his  usual  habit  of 
looking  at  a  subject  on  all  sides.  To  have  answered 
the  question  as  to  grog,  without  consulting  the 
sailors  themselves,  would  have  smacked  too  much 
of  the  doctrinaire  for  him.  He  was  personally 
heartily  in  favor  of  abolishing  grog,  but  with  that 
love  for  the  comfort  of  his  men  which  so  endeared 
"  Old  Matt"  to  the  common  sailor,  he  proposed  for 
the  first-rate  seamen,  the  optional  use  of  light  wines. 
His  attitude  was  that  of  temperance,  rather  than 
prohibition. 

Flogging  had  been  introduced  into  the  American 
navy  in  1799,  when  "the  cat-of-nine  tails  "  was  made  the 
legal  instrument  of  punishment,  "no  other  cat  being 
allowed."  Not  more  than  twelve  lashes  were  allowed 
on  the  bare  back.  Even  a  court  martial  could  not 
order  over  a  hundred  lashes.  As  to  its  total  abolition, 
Perry  felt  that  his  own  opinion  should  be  formed  by 
a  consensus  of  the  most  respectable  sailors.  Person 
ally  he  was  in  favor  of  immediately  modifying,  but 
not  at  once  abolishing  the  penalty.  This  was  to  him 
"the  most  painful  of  all  the  duties  of  an  officer." 
He  would  rather  make  it  more  formal,  leaving  the 
question  of  its  administration  not  in  the  hands  of 
the  captain,  but  of  an  inferior  court  on  ship  of  three 
officers,  the  finding  of  the  court  to  be  subject  to  the 
captain's  revision.  Perry  believed,  as  the  result  of 
long  experience,  that  the  old  sailors  and  the  good 
ones  were  opposed  to  total  abolition  of  flogging, 


266  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

since  the  punishment  operated  as  a  protection  to 
them  against  desperate  characters.  To  satisfy  him 
self  of  public  opinion,  he  went  on  board  the  North 
Carolina  and  asked  Captain  J.  R.  Sands  to  call  to 
him  eight  of  the  oldest  active  sailors.  The  men 
came  in  promptly  to  the  cabin,  not  knowing  who 
called  them  or  why.  All  were  native  Americans, 
and  all  were  opposed  to  the  abolition  of  flogging. 
Nevertheless,  Perry  was  glad  when  this  relic  of 
barbarism  was  abolished  from  the  decks  of  the 
American  ships  of  war.  On  him  fell  the  brunt  of  the 
decision.  He  first  enforced  discipline,  chiefly  by 
moral  suasion,  on  a  fleet  in  which  was  no  flogging. 
The  grog  ration  was  not  abolished  until  1862. 

Until  the  great  civil  war,  only  two  fleets  — that  is, 
collections  of  war  vessels  numbering  at  least  twelve 
—  had  assembled  under  the  American  flag.  These 
were  in  the  waters  of  Mexico  and  Japan.  Both  were 
commanded  by  Matthew.  C.  Perry. 

Nearly  forty  years  have  now  passed  since  the 
Mexican  war,  and  a  survey  of  the  facts  and  subsequent 
history  is  of  genuine  interest.  The  United  States 
employed,  in  the  invasion  of  a  sister  republic,  about 
one  hundred  thousand  armed  men.  Of  these,  26,690 
were  regular  troops,  56,926  volunteers,  while  over 
15,000  were  in  the  navy,  or  in  the  department 
of  commissariat  and  transportation.  Probably  as 
many  as  eighty  thousand  soldiers  were  actually  in 
Mexico.  Of  this  host,  120  officers  and  1,400  men 
fell  in  battle  or  died  of  wounds,  and  100  officers  and 


RESULTS    OF    THE    WAR.  2O/ 

10,800  men  perished  by  disease.  These  figures  by 
General  Viele  are  from  the  army  rolls.  Another 
writer  gives  the  total,  in  round  numbers,  of  American 
war-employees  lost  in  battle  at  5,000,  and  by  sickness 
15,000.  About  1,000  men  of  the  army  of  occupation 
died  each  month  of  garrison-fever  in  the  city  of 
Mexico,  and  many  more  were  ruined  in  health  and 
character.  In  all,  the  loss  of  manhood  by  glory  and 
malaria  was  fully  25,000  men.  The  war  cost  the 
United  States,  directly,  a  sum '  estimated  between 
$130,000,000  and  $166,500,000.  Including  the  pen 
sions,  recently  voted,  this  amount  will  be  greatly 
increased. 

Turning  from  the  debit  to  the  credit  account,  the 
United  States  gained  in  Texas,  and  the  ceded  terri 
tory,  nearly  one  million  square  miles  of  land^ 
increasing  her  area  one-third,  and  adding  five  thous 
and  miles  of  sea-coast,  with  three  great  harbors. 
Except  for  one  of  those  world-influencing  episodes, 
which  are  usually  called  "accidents,"  but  which 
make  epochs  and  history,  this  large  territory  would 
long  have  waited  for  inhabitants.  The  vast  desert 
was  made  to  bud  with  promise,  and  blossom  as  the 
rose,  by  the  discovery  of  some  shining  grains  of 
metal,  yellow  and  heavy,  in  a  mill  race.  California 
with  her  golden  hands  rose  up,  a  new  figure  in 
history,  to  beckon  westward  the  returned  veteran, 
the  youth  of  the  overcrowded  East,  the  young  blood 
and  sinew  of  Europe.  The  era  of  the  "prairie 
schooner"  to  traverse  the  plains,  the  steamer  to  ply 


268  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

to  the  Isthmus,  the  fast-sailing  American  clipper 
ships  to  double  the  Cape,  was  '  ushered  in.  Zadoc 
Pratt's  dream  of  a  trans-continental  railway,  laid  on 
the  Indian  trails,  soon  found  a  solid  basis  in  easy 
possibility.  In  the  eight  months  ending  March  1850 
nine  millions  of  gold  from  California  entered  the 
United  States.  The  volume  of  wealth  from  California 
and  Texas  in  thirty-two  years,  has  equalled  the  debt 
incurred  during  the  great  civil  war  to  preserve  the 
American  union ;  enabling  the  government  to  say  to 
Louis  Napoleon,  "  Get  out  of  Mexico,  and  take  im 
perialism  from  the  American  continent." 

Yet  even  California,  and  the  boundless  possi 
bilities  of  the  Pacific  slope  could  not  suffice  for  the 
restless  energy  of  the  American.  The  mer 
chant  seeking  new  outlets  of  trade,  the  whaler 
careering  in  all  seas  for  spoil,  the  missionary  moved 
with  desire  to  enter  new  fields  of  humanity,  the 
explorer  burning  to  unlock  hidden  treasures  of 
mystery,  looked  westward  over  earth's  broadest  ocean. 
China  had  opened  a  few  wicket  gates.  Two  hermit 
kingdoms  still  kept  their  doors  barred.  Corea  was. 
no  lure.  It  had  no  place  in  literature,  no  fame  to  the 
traveller,  no  repute  of  wealth  to  incite.  Its  name 
suggested  no  more  than  a  sea-shell.  There  was 
another  nation.  Of  her,  travellers,  merchants,  and 
martyrs  had  told  ;  about  her,  libraries  had  been  writ 
ten  ;  religion,  learning,  wealth,  curious  and  mighty  in 
stitutions,  a  literature  and  a  civilization,  gold  and  coal 
and  trade  were  there.  Kingly  suitors  and  the  men  of 


RESULTS    OF    THE    WAR.  269 

many  nations  had  plead  for  entrance  and  waited 
vainly  at  her  jealously  barred  and  guarded  doors. 
The  only  answer  during  monotonous  centuries  had 
been  haughty  denial  or  contemptuous  silence.  Japan 
was  the  sleeping  princess  in  the  eastern  seas. 
Thornrose  castle  still  tempted  all  daring  spirits. 
Who  should  be  the  one  to  sail  westward,  with  valor 
and  with  force,  held  but  unused,  wake  with  peaceful 
kiss  the  maiden  to  life  and  a  beauty  to  be  admired 
of  all  the  world  ? 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

AMERICAN     ATTEMPTS    TO    OPEN    TRADE    WITH     JAPAN. 

WE  propose  here  to  summarize  the  various  at 
tempts  by  Americans  to  re-open  Japan  to  intercourse 
with  other  nations.  For  two  centuries,  after  lyeyasu 
and  his  successors  passed  their  decree  of  seclusion, 
Japan  remained  the  new  Paradise  Lost  to  Europeans. 
Perry  made  it  Paradise  Regained. 

In  The  Japan  Expedition,  the  editor  of  Perry's 
work  has  given,  on  page  62,  in  a  tabulated  Iist5  the 
various  attempts  made  by  civilized  nations  to  open 
commerce  with  Japan  from  1543  down  to  1852.  In 
this,  the  Portuguese,  Dutch,  English,  Russians, 
American,  and  French  have  taken  part.  This  table, 
however,  is  incomplete,  as  we  shall  show. 

The  American  flag  was  probably  first  carried 
around  the  world  in  1784,  by  Major  Robert  Shaw, 
formerly  an  officer  in  the  revolutionary  army  of  the 
United  States  First  Artillery.  It  was,  therefore, 
seen  in  the  eastern  seas  as  early  as  1784,  and  at 
Nagasaki  as  early  as  1797.  In  1803,  Mr.  Waarde- 
naar,  the  Dutch  superintendent  at  Deshima,  not  hav 
ing  heard  that  the  peace  of  the  Amiens,  negotiated 
by  Lord  Cornwallis  and  signed  March  27,  1802,  had 
been  broken,  boarded  a  European  vessel  coming  into 


ATTEMPTS  TO  OPEN  TRADE  WITH  JAPAN.   2/1 

port,  and  recognized  an  American,  Captain  Stewart, 
who  during  the  war  had  made  voyages  for  the  Dutch 
East  India  Company.  Captain  Stewart  explained 
that  he  had  come  with  a  cargo  of  wholly  American 
goods,  of  which  he  was  proprietor.  The  following 
dialogue  ensued:  — 

Q.     "Who  is  the  King  of  America." 
A.     "  President  Jefferson." 
Q.      "  Why  do  you  come  to  Japan  ?  " 
A.     "  To  demand  liberty  of  commerce  for  me  and 
my  people." 

Waardenaar  suspected  that  the  real  chief  of  the 
expedition  was  not  Stewart,  but  "the  doctor"  on 
board,  and  that  it  was  a  British  ship.  Hence,  on 
Waardenaar's  report  to  the  governor  of  Nagasaki, 
the  latter  forbade  Stewart  the  coasts  of  Japan,  al- 
Inwjmr  him,  however,  water  and  provisions. 

The  facts  underlying  this  apparent  attempt  of 
the  enterprising  Yankee  to  open  trade  with  the 
United  States  so  early  in  the  history  of  the  coun 
try  seemed  to  be  these.  Captain  Stewart,  an 
American  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company,  having  made  his  first  voyage  from  Ba- 
tavia  to  Nagasaki  in  1797,  was  sent  again  the  fol 
lowing  year,  1798.  An  earthquake  and  tidal  wave 
coming  on,  his  ship  dragged  her  anchors  and  the 
cargo,  consisting  chiefly  of  camphor,  was  thrown 
overboard.  The  vessel  would  have  become  a  total 


2/2  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

wreck  but  for  the  ingenuity  of  a  native.  He  "used 
helps  undergirding  the  ship,"  floating  her.  Then 
taking  her  in  tow  of  a  big  junk,  he  drew  her  into 
a  safe  quarter.  For  this,  the  Japanese  was  made 
a  two-swordecl  samurai.  Stewart  was  sent  back  to 
Batavia.  Thence  he  fled  to  Bengal,  where  he  most 
probably  persuaded  the  English  merchants  to  send 
him  in  a  ship  to  Japan  with  a  cargo,  to  open  trade 
for  them  under  the  name  of  Americans. 

A  few  days  after  Stewart  had  left,  Captain  Tor- 
ry,  the  accredited  agent  of  the  Calcutta  Company, 
came  to  Nagasaki,  to  open  trade  if  possible.  Tor- 
ry  had  sent  Stewart  before  him,  the  Japanese  not 
daring,  he  thought,  to  refuse  Englishmen  after 
allowing  Americans  to  trade.  Torry  was,  however, 
sent  away  as  being  in  league  with  Stewart,  and 
left  after  obtaining  a  supply  of  water. 

In  1807,  as  Hildreth'  in  his  Japan,  states,  the 
American  ship,  Eclipse,  of  Boston,  chartered  at 
Canton,  by  the  Russian  American  Company  for 
Kamschatka  and  the  north-west  coast  of  America, 
entered  the  harbor  of  Nagasaki  under  Russian  colors, 
but  could  obtain  no  trade  and  only  provisions  and 
water.  The  Dutch  flag  being  driven  from  the  ocean, 
the  annual  ships  from  Batavia  to  Nagasaki  in  1799, 
1800,  1 80 1,  1802,  1803,  and  at  least  one  of  the 
pair  in  1806,  1807  and  1809,  were  American  bot 
toms  and  under  the  American  flag,  so  that  the 
Japanese  became  familiar  with  the  scvcnteen-$\.2x\z& 
flag  of  the  United  States  of  America. 


ATTEMPTS  TO  OPEN  TRADE  WITH  JAPAN.   2/3 

The  brilliant  and  successful  foreign  policy  of 
President  Andrew  Jackson  in  Europe,  has  been  al 
ready  noted.  Even  Asia  felt  his  influence.  Mr. 
Edmund  Roberts*,  a  sea  captain  of  Portsmouth,  N. 
H.,  was  named  by  President  Jackson,  his  "agent" 
for  the  purpose  of  "  examining  in  the  Indian  ocean 
the  means  of  extending  the- commerce  of  the  United 
States  by  commercial  arrangements  with  the  Pow 
ers  whose  dominions  border  on  those  seas."  He 
was  ordered,  January  27,  1832,  to  embark  on  the 
United  States  Sloop-of-war,  Peacock,  in  which  he 
was  rated  as  captain's  clerk.  On  the  23rd  of  July, 
he  was  ordered  "to  be  very  careful  in  obtaining 
information  respecting  Japan,  the  means  of  open 
ing  a  communication  with  it,  and  the  value  of  its 
trade  with  the  Dutch  and  Chinese."  Arriving  at 
Canton,  he  might  receive  further  instructions.  He 
had  with  him  blanks.  On  the  28th  of  October, 
1832,  Edward  Livingstone,  the  United  States  Sec- 
.retary  of  State,  instructed  him  that  the  United 
States  had  it  in  contemplation  to  institute  a  sep 
arate  mission  to  Japan.  If,  however,  a  favorable 
opportunity  presented,  he  might  fill  up  a  letter  and 
present  it  to  the  "Emperor"  for  the  purpose  of 
opening  trade.  Roberts  was  successful  in  inaugu 
rating  diplomatic  and  commercial  relations  with 
Muscat  and  Siam,  but,  on  account  of  his  prema 
ture  death,  nothing  came  of  his  mission  to  Japan. 
He  died  June  12,  1836,  at  Macao,  where  his  tomb 
duly  inscribed,  is  in  the  Protestant  cemetery. 

*  Embassy  to  the  Eastern  Courts,  New  York,  1837. 


2/4         MATTHEW  CALBRAITH  PERRY. 

Commodore  Kennedy  in  the  Peacock,  with  the 
schooner  Enterprise,  visited  the  Bonin  Islands  in 
August  1837,  an  account  of  which  was  written  by 
Doctor  Ruschenberger,*  the  fleet  surgeon. 

The  sight  of  the  flowery  flag  of  "Be-koku"  or 
the  United  States,  became  more  and  more  familiar 
to  the  Japanese  coasting  and  ship  population,  as 
the  riches  of  the  whaling  waters  became  better 
known  in  America.  The  American  whalers  were 
so  numerous  in  the  Japan  seas  by  the  year  1850, 
that  eighty-six  of  the  "  black  ships  "  were  counted 
as  passing  Matsumae  in  twelve  months.  Perry 
found  that  no  fewer  than  ten  thousand  of  our  people 
were  engaged  in  this  business.  Furthermore,  the 
Japanese  waifs  blown  out  to  sea  were  drifted  into  the 
Black  Current  and  to  the  Kurile  and  Aleutian  islands, 
to  Russian  and  British  America,  to  Oregon  and 
California,  and  even  to  Hawaii. 

The  necessity  of  visiting  Japan  on  errands  of 
mercy  to  return  these  waifs  became  a  frequent  one. 
Reciprocally,  the  Japanese  sent  the  shipwrecked 
Americans  by  the  Dutch  vessels  to  Batavia  whence 
they  reached  the  United  States.  This  was  the 
cause  of  the  "Morrison's"  visit  to  the  bay  of  Yedo 
and  to  Kagoshima  in  1837.  This  ship,  fitly  named 
after  the  first  Protestant  English  missionary  to 
China,  whose  grave  lies  near  Roberts  in  the  terraced 
cemetery  at  Macao,  was  despatched  by  an  American 
mercantile  firm.  Included  among  the  thirty-eight 


A  Voyage  Round  the  World,  Philadelphia,   1838. 


ATTEMPTS    TO    OPEN    TRADE    WITH   JAPAN.       275 

persons  on  board  were  seven  Japanese  waifs,  Rev. 
Charles  Gutzlaff,  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams,  Peter 
Parker,  Mr.  King,  the  owner,  and  Mrs.  King.  They 
sailed  July  3d.  The  vessel  reached  Uraga,  bay  of 
Yedo,  July  22d,  and  Kagoshima  in  Satsuma  August 
20,  but  was  fired  on  and  driven  away.  The  name  of 
"Morrison  Bluff"  on  the  map  of  Japan  is  an  honor 
to  American  Christianity,  as  it  is  a  shame  to  Old 
Japan. 

The  proposition  to  open  commercial  relations  with 
the  two  secluded  nations  now  came  definitely  before 
Congress.  On  February  I5th  1845,  General  Zadoc 
Pratt,  chairman  of  the  select  committee  on  statistics 
introduced  the  following  resolution  in  Congress  to 
treat  for  the  opening  of  Japan  and  Corea.  "  Whereas 
it  is  important  to  the  general  interests  of  the  United 
States  that  steady  and  persevering  efforts  should  be 
made  for  the  extension  of  American  commerce, 
connected  as  that  commerce  is  with  the  agriculture 
and  manufactures  of  our  country  ;  be  it  therefore 
resolved,  that  in  furtherance  of  this  object,  it  is 
hereby  recommended  that  immediate  measures  be 
taken  for  effecting  commercial  arrangements  with 
the  Empire  of  Japan  and  the  Kingdom  of  Corea,* 
for  the  following  among  other  reasons."  Then 
follows  a  memorandum  concerning  the  proposed 
mission. 

Captain  Mercator  Cooper,  in  the  whale  ship 
Manhattan,  of  Sag  Harbor,  returned  twenty-two 

*  Corea,  the  Hermit  Nation,  p.  390. 


276  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

shipwrecked  Japanese  early  in  April  1845,  from  the 
island  of  St.  Peters  to  Uraga  in  the  bay  of  Yedo, 
where  he  lay  at  anchor  four  days  obtaining  books  and 
charts.  When  the  Japanese  embassy  of  1861  reached 
New  York,  one  of  the  first  questions  asked  by  them 
was,  "Where  is  Captain  Cooper?" 

Our  government  authorized  Commodore  Biddle, 
then  in  command  of  the  East  Indian  squadron,  to 
visit  Japan  in  the  hope  of  securing  a  convention. 
He  left  Chusan  July  7th,  and,  on  the  2Oth  of  July 
1846,  with  the  ship  of  the  line,  Colnmbns,  90  guns, 
and  the  sloop  of  war,  Vinccnnes,  he  anchored  off 
Uraga.  Application  for  trade  was  made  in  due  form, 
but  the  answer  given  July  28th  by  the  Sho-gun's 
deputy  who  came  on  board  with  a  suite  of  eight 
persons,  was  a  positive  refusal.  Commodore  Biddle 
being  instructed  "not  to  do  anything  to  excite  a 
hostile  feeling  or  distrust  of  the  United  States," 
sailed  away  July  29,  in  obedience  to  orders. 

At  this  very  time,  eight  American  sailors,  or 
seven,  as  the  Japanese  account  states,  wrecked  on 
the  whale  ship,  Laivrcncc,  June  6th,  were  imprisoned 
inYezo  ;  but  the  fact  was  not  then  known  in  Yedo. 
After  seventeen  months  confinement,  they  were  sent 
to  Nagasaki  and  thence  in  October  1847,  to  Batavia. 
From  one  of  these  sailors,  a  Japanese  samurai,  or 
two-sworded  retainer  of  a  damio,  named  Moriyama 
Yenosuke,  (Mr.  Grove-mountain)  learned  to  speak 
and  read  English  with  tolerable  fluency.  He  acted 
as  chief  medium  of  communication  between  the 


ATTEMPTS    TO    OPEN    TRADE    WITH    JAPAN.       2// 

Japanese  and  their  next  American  visitor,  Glynn  ; 
and  afterwards  served  as  interpreter  in  the  treaty 
negotiations  at  Yokohama  in  1854.  At  this  time 
the  Dutch  trade  with  Japan  barely  paid  the  expenses 
of  the  factory  at  Deshima.  The  Dutch  East  India 
Company  some  years  before  had  voluntarily  turned 
over  the  monopoly  to  the  Dutch  government.  Trade 
was  now  upon  a  purely  sentimental  basis,  being  kept 
up  solely  for  the  honor  of  the  Dutch  flag.  The 
next  step,  which  logically  followed,  was  a  letter  from 
the  King  of  Holland  to  the  Sho-gun  recommending 
that  Japan  open  her  ports  to  the  trade  of  the  world. 
Meanwhile,  the  Mikado  commanded  that  the  coasts 
should  be  strictly  guarded  "  so  as  to  prevent  dishonor 
to  the  Divine  Country." 

In  September,  1848,  fifteen  foreign  seamen,  eight 
of  them  Americans,  wrecked  from  the  Ladoga^  were 
sent  in  a  junk  from  Matsiimae  to  Nagasaki.  The 
Netherlands  consul  at  Canton  made  notification 
January  27,  1849,  to  Captain  Geisinger,  a  gallant 
'officer  on  the  Wasp  in  1814,  in  command  of  the 
Peacock  during  Mr.  Roberts's  first  embassy,  and  now 
in  command  of  the  East  India  squadron, who  sent  Com 
mander  Glynn  in  the  Preble,  the  brig  once  in  Perry's 
African  squadron,  and  carrying  fourteen  guns,  to 
their  rescue.  Stopping  at  Napa,  Riu  Kiu,  on  his 
way  to  Nagasaki,  he  learned  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  J. 
Bettelheim  the  missionary  there,  of  the  rumors 
concerning  "  the  Japanese  victory  over  the  American 
big  ships."  The  snowball  of  rumor  in  rolling  to  the 


278  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

provinces  had  become  an  avalanche  of  exaggeration, 
and  Glynn  at  once  determined  to  pursue  "  a  stalwart 
policy."  On  reaching  Nagasaki,  he  dashed  through 
the  cordon  of  boats,  and  anchored  within  cannon 
shot  of  the  city.  He  submitted  to  the  usual  red 
tape  proceedings  and  evasive  diplomacy  for  two  days, 
and  then  threatened  to  open  fire  on  the  city  unless 
the  sailors  were  forthcoming.  That  the  Japanese 
had  already  learned  to  respect  American  naval 
gunnery,  having  heard  of  it  at  Vera  Cruz,  the  follow 
ing  conversation  will  show.  The  Japanese,  through 
the  Dutch,  had  been  kept  minutely  informed  as  to 
the  Mexican  war  and,  in  their  first  interview  with 
Commander  Glynn,  remarked  :  — 

"You  have  had  a  war  with  Mexico?  " 
"Yes.'; 

"  You  whipped  her  ?  " 
"Yes." 

"  You  have  taken  a  part  of  her  territory  ? " 
"Yes." 

"  And  you  have  discovered  large  quantities  of  gold 
in  it  ?" 

The  imprisoned  seamen  were  promptly  delivered 
on  the  deck  of  the  Preble.  They  stated  that,  when 
in  Matsumae,  they  had  learned  from  the  guards  of 
their  prison  of  every  battle  we  had  with  the  Mexicans 
and  of  every  victory  we  had  gained.  The  prestige 
of  the  American  navy  won  at  Vera  Cruz  and  on  the 


ATTEMPTS  TO  OPEN  TRADE  WITH  JAPAN.   2/9 

two  coasts  had  doubtless  a  good  influence  upon  the 
Japanese,  making  Glynn's  mission  easier  than  it 
otherwise  might  have  been.  In  his  report,  Comman 
der  Glynn  suggested  that  the  time  for  opening  Japan 
was  favorable  and  recommended  the  sending  of  a 
force  to  do  it. 

Commerce  with  China,  the  settlement  of  California, 
the  growth  of  the  American  whale-fishery  in  the 
eastern  seas,  the  expansion  of  steam  traffic,  with 
the  corrollary  necessities  of  coal  and  ports  for 
shelter,  and  the  frequency  of  shipwrecks,  were  all 
compelling  factors  in  the  opening  of  Japan  —  which 
event  could  not  long  be  delayed. 

The  shadows  of  the  coming  event  were  already 
descried  in  Japan.  Numerous  records  of  the  landing 
or  shipwreck  of  American  and  other  seamen  are 
found  in  the  native  chronicles  of  this  period.  The 
Dutch  dropped  broad  hints  of  embassies  or  expedi 
tions  soon  to  come.  In  September,  1847,  the  rank  of 
the  governor  of  Uraga,  the  entrance-port  to  the  Bay 
of  Yedo,  was  raised.  In  October,  the  daimios  or 
barons  were  ordered  to  maintain  the  coast  defences, 
and  encourage  warlike  studies  and  exercises.  In 
November,  the  boy  named  Shichiro  Maro,  destined 
to  be  the  last  Taikun  ("  Tycoon ")  and  head  of 
Japanese  feudalism,  came  into  public  notice  as  heir 
of  one  of  the  princely  families  of  the  Succession. 
In  December,  a  census  of  the  number  of  newly  cast 
cannon  able  to  throw  balls  of  one  pound  weight  and 
over  was  ordered  to  be  taken.  The  chronicler  of  the 


280  MATTHEW    CALBRAITII    PERRY. 

year  1848  notes  that  nineteen  foreign  vessels  passed 
through  the  straits  of  Tsushima  in  April,  and  closes 
his  notice  of  remarkable  events  by  saying  :  "  During 
this  year,  foreign  ships  visited  our  northern  seas 
in  such  numbers  as  had  not  been  seen  in  recent 
times  !  " 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

ORIGIN    OF    THE    AMERICAN    EXPEDITION    TO   JAPAN. 

THOUGH  as  a  student  and  a  man  of  cultufe,  Perry 
was  familiar  with  the  drift  of  events  in  China,  and 
was  interested  in  Japan,  yet  it  was  not  until  the  year 
1850,  that  his  thoughts  were  turned  seriously  to  the 
unopened  country  in  the  eastern  seas.  The  receipt 
of  news  about  the  Preble  affair  crystallized  his 
thoughts  into  a  definitely  formed  purpose.  He 
began  to  look  at  the  problem,  of  winning  Japan  into 
the  comity  of  nations,  with  a  practical  eye,  from  a 
naval  and  personal  view-point. 

Highly  approving  of  Commander  Glynn's  course, 
he  believed  that  kindness  and  firmness,  backed  by  a 
force  in  the  Bay  of  Yedo  sufficient  to  impress  the 
authorities  would,  by  tact,  patience  and  care,  result 
in  a  bloodless  victory.  He  now  gathered  together 
literary  material  bearing  on  the  subject  and  pondered 
upon  the  question  how  to  translate  Ali  Baba's  watch 
word  into  Japanese.  There  seemed,  however,  little 
likelihood  that  the  government  would  be  willing  to 
send  thither  an  imposing  squadron.  He  did  not 
therefore  seek  the  command  of  the  East  India  squad 
ron,  and  the  initial  proposition  to  do  the  work  with 
which  his  name  is  connected,  came  to  him  and  not 
from  him. 


282  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Commander  James  Glynn,  on  his  return,  earlv  in 
1851,  went  to  Washington  earnestly  wishing  to  be 
sent  on  a  diplomatic  mission  to  Japan  with  a  fresh 
naval  force.  To  this  gallant  and  able  young  officer, 
belongs  a  considerable  share  of  the  credit  of  working 
the  President  and  Secretary  of  State  up  to  the  point 
of  action.  The  expedition,  as  it  came  to  be  organized, 
however,  grew  to  the  proportions  of  a  fleet,  and  Glynn 
found  himself  excluded  by  his  rank,  the  command  of 
the  expedition  being  very  properly  claimed  by  an 
officer  of  higher  rank  in  the  army.  The  applicant 
for  the  honor  of  commander  of  the  Japan  expedition, 
then  in  embryo,  was  Commodore  J.  H.  Aulick,  who 
had  been  in  the  navy  since  1809,  and  was  master's 
mate  of  the  Enterprise  in  her  combat  with  the 
Boxer,  in  the  war  of  1812. 

Dismissing  from  his  mind,  or  at  least  postponing 
until  a  more  propitious  time  his  eastward  possibili 
ties,  Perry,  March  21,  1851,  applied  for  the  command 
of  the  Mediterranean  squadron  to  succeed  Commo 
dore  Morgan  if  the  way  was  clear.  During  the 
summer  and  autumn,  he  was  several  times  in  Wash 
ington,  and  frequently  in  consultation  with  the 
Naval  Committee.  He  was  led  to  believe  his  desire 
would  be  granted  and  made  personal  and  domestic 
arrangements  accordingly.  Yet  the  appointment 
hung  fire  for  reasons  that  Perry  did  not  then  under 
stand. 

Genera]  Taylor,  having  been  hustled  into  the 
Presidency,  promptly  succumbed  to  the  unaccustomed 


AMERICAN    EXPEDITION    TO    JAPAN.  283 

turmoil  of  politics.  He  yielded  to  an  enemy  more 
dire  and  persistent  than  Santa  Anna, —  the  office 
seeker,  and  found  his  grave.  The  urbane  Millard 
Fillmore  took  his  place,  with  Daniel  Webster  as 
Secretary  of  State.  The  suggestions  of  Commander 
Glynn  for  the  opening  of  Japan  had  pleased  both  the 
President  and  Secretary,  and  pretty  soon,  one  of  those 
multiplying  pretexts  and  opportunities  for  going 
near  the  "Capital  of  the  Tycoon"  occurred.  It 
was  the  picking  up  at  sea  of  another  lot  of  waifs  by 
Captain  Jennings,  of  the  barque  A nckla nd  who  took 
them  to  San  Francisco.  On  the  Qth  of  May,  1857, 
Commodore  Aulick  proposed  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  a  plan  for  the  opening  of  Japan,  and  on  the  same 
day,  Mr.  Webster  addressed  an  official  note  to  Hon. 
William  Graham,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  which 
these  words  occur  : 

"  Commodore  Aulick  has  suggested  to  me,  and  I 
cheerfully  concur  in  the  opinion,  that  this  incident 
may  afford  a  favorable  opportunity  for  opening  com 
mercial  relations  with  the  empire  of  Japan  ;  or,  at 
least,  of  placing  our  intercourse  with  that  Island  upon 
a  more  easy  footing." 

The  nail  already  inserted  in  the  wood  by  Glynn  was 
thus  driven  further  in  by  Aulick's  proposition  and 
Mr.  Webster's  hearty  indorsement.  The  next  day  a 
letter  to  the  "  Emperor  "  was  prepared  and,  on  the 
3Oth  of  May,  Commodore  Aulick  received  his  com 
mission  to  negotiate  and  sign  a  treaty  with  Japan. 
He  was  to  be  accompanied  by  "an  imposing  naval 


284  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

force  "  At  least,  so  Mr.  Webster's  letter  suggested. 
Unfortunately,  for  Commodore  Aulick,  he  left  before 
the  nail  was  driven  in  a  sure  place.  He  departed  for 
the  East  with  slight  preparation,  foresight,  or  mastery 
of  details,  and  long  before  the  "imposing"  naval 
force  was  gathered,  or  even  begun.  Even  had  Aulick 
remained  in  command,  he  would  probably  never  have 
received  any  large  accession  to  his  force.  Had  he 
attempted  the  work  of  negotiation  with  but  two  or 
three  vessels,  he  would  most  probably  have  failed. 
The  preparation  and  sailing  of  the  fleet  to  follow 
him  was  delayed.  Promises  were  never  kept,  and  he 
was  recalled.  Why  was  this  ?  Commodore  Aulick, 
on  his  return,  demanded  a  court  martial  in  order  that 
he  himself  might  know  the  reasons,  but  his  wishes 
were  not  heeded.  History  has  heretofore  been  silent 
on  the  point. 

There  are  some  who  think  that  Perry  is  at  fault 
here  ;  that  he  grasped  at  honors  prepared  for  others, 
reaping  where  he  had  not  sowed. 

The  reason  for  the  recall  of  Commodore  Aulick 
and  the  appointment  of  Perry  in  his  place  were 
neither  made  public  at  the  time,  nor  have  they  thus, 
far  been  understood  by  the  public,  or  even  by  acquain 
tances  of  Perry  who  ignorantly  misjudge  him.  A 
number  of  persons,  some  of  them  naval  officers,  have 
even  supposed  that  Perry  was  responsible  for  the 
bad  treatment  of  Commodore  Aulick,  and  that  he 
sacrificed  a  fellow-officer  to  gratify  his  own  ambition. 
The  writer  was  long  under  the  impression  that 


AMERICAN    EXPEDITION    TO   JAPAN.  285 

Perry's  own  urgency  in  seeking  the  position  secured 
for  himself  the  appointment,  and  that  the  govern 
ment  favored  Perry  at  the  expense  of  his  comrade. 
With  the  view  of  sounding  the  truth  at  the  bottom 
of  the  well,  the  writer  made  search  in  both  Aulick's 
and  Secretary  Graham's  official  and  confidential 
letters. 

The  unexpected  result  v/as  the  thorough  vindica 
tion  of  Perry  from  the  shadow  of  suspicion.  The 
facts  reveal  that  harsh  treatment  may  sometimes 
hastily  and  needlessly  be  accorded  to  a  gallant  officer, 
and  illustrate  the  dangers  besetting  our  commanders, 
when  non-naval  people  with  a  weakness  for  tittle- 
tattle  live  on  board  a  man-of-war.  The  arrows  of 
gossip  and  slander,  whether  on  sea  or  land,  are  suffi 
ciently  poisonous.  They  nearly  took  the  life,  and 
ruined  the  reputation  of  Commodore  Aulick  ;  but  of 
their  shooting,  Perry  was  as  innocent  as  an  unborn 
child.  The  simple  facts  in  the  case  are  that  Commo 
dore  Aulick  was  recalled  from  China  long  before  Perry 
had  any  idea  of  assuming  the  Japan  mission,  and  that 
his  relations  with  his  old  comrade  in  Mexico  were 
always  of  the  pleasantest  nature.  We  must  look  from 
the  captains  to  their  superior. 

On  the  ist  of  May  1851,  Commodore  Aulick  re 
ceived  orders  to  proceed  in  the  new  steamer  frigate 
Susquehanna  to  Rio  Janeiro,  taking  out  the  Brazilian 
minister  Macedo  as  the  guest  of  the  United  States. 
He  sailed  from  Norfolk  June  8th,  and  by  way  of 
Maderia,  arrived  at  his  destination  July  22.  The 


286  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Susquehanna  was  a  steam  frigate  of  noble  spacious 
ness  built  at  the  Philadelphia  Navy  Yard  in  1847. 
Her  launch  amid  a  glory  of  sunshine,  bunting,  happy 
faces,  and  the  symbolic  breaking  of  a  bottle  of  water 
from  the  river  of  her  own  name,  the  writer  remem 
bers  as  one  of  the  bright  events  of  his  childhood- 
She  carried  sixteen  guns,  and  was  of  two  thousand  four 
hundred  and  fifty  tons  burthen,  but  though  of  ex 
cellent  model  her  machinery  was  constantly  getting 
out  of  order.  From  Rio  Janeiro  Aulick  proceeded 
around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  on  diplomatic  busi 
ness  with  the  Sultan  of  Zanzibar.  This  having  been 
finished,  Aulick  sailed  to  China  and  on  arriving  at 
Hong  Kong,  began  to  organize  a  squadron  and  make 
his  personal  preparations  for  a  visit  to  Japan.  He 
secured  as  his  interpreter,  D.  Bethune  McCartee,  Esq., 
M.  D.  an  accomplished  American  missionary  at 
Ningpo.  He  also  investigated,  as  per  orders,  with  the 
aid  of  the  missionaries  of  the  Reformed  [Dutch] 
Church  in  America  at  Amoy,  Rev.  Messrs.  Doty  and 
Talmage,  (brother  of  T.  De  Witt  Talmage  of  Brooklyn) 
the  coolie  traffic.  The  Saratoga  was  sent  after 
the  mutineers  of  the  Robert  Bowne,  and  visited  the 
Riu  Kiu  islands.  While  engaged  in  cruising 
between  Macao  and  Manilla,  though  smitten  down 
with  disease,  the  old  hero  was  astounded  at  receiving 
a  curt  order  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  dated 
November,  iSth  1851.  It  directed  him  to  hand  over 
his  command  to  Captain  Franklin  Buchanan,  but  not 
to  leave  the  China  seas  until  his  successor  should 


AMERICAN    EXPEDITION    TO    JAPAN.  28/ 

arrive.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  informed  that 
grave  imputations  had  been  cast  upon  his  conduct. 
Prompt  and  full  explanation  of  these  was  called  for. 
The  charges  were,  that  he  had  violated  express 
orders  in  taking  a  person  (his  son)  on  board  a 
national  vessel  as  passenger  without  authority,  and 
that  he  had  given  out  at  Rio  Jenerio  that  the 
Chevalier  de  Macedo  was  being  carried  at  his 
(Aulick1  s)  private  expense. 

Meanwhile,  the  Anglo-Chinese  newspapers  got 
hold  of  the  patent  fact,  and  the  ready  inference  was 
drawn  that  Commodore  Aulick  had  been  recalled  for 
mis-conduct.  This  annoyed  the  old  veteran  to  ex 
asperation.  Worn  out  by  forty-four  years  in  his 
country's  service,  with  both  disgrace  and  an  early  but 
lingering  death  staring  him  in  the  face,  with  the 
prospect  of  being  obliged  to  go  home  in  a  merchant 
vessel  and  without  medical  attendance,  he  dictated 
(being  unable  to  hold  a  pen)  a  letter  dated  February 
7>  ^53,  protesting  against  this  harsh  treatment 
caused  by  "ex-parte  statements  of  certain  diplomats 
in  Rio  Janeiro,  whose  names,  up  to  this  time,  have 
never  been  officially  made  known  to  me."  For 
months  in  precarious  health,  Aulick  waited  for  his 
unnamed  relief,  and  at  last,  heard  that  it  was  his  as 
yet  old  friend  Perry.  By  the  advice  of  his  physician, 
Dr.  Peter  Parker  and  surgeon  S.  S.  Du  Barry,  he 
started  homeward  at  the  first  favorable  opportunity, 
by  the  English  mail  steamer,  passing  the  Mississippi 
on  her  way  out. 


288  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

In  London,  Commodore  Aulick  called  upon  and  was 
the  guest  of  Chevalier  de  Macedo,  who  learned  with 
surprise  of  the  trouble  into  which  he  had  fallen  with 
his  government.  A  long  letter  now  in  the  navy 
archives,  from  the  Brazilian,  thoroughly  exonerated 
Aulick.  Arriving  in  New  York  June  ist  1863,  and 
reporting  to  Secretary  Dobbin,  Commodore  Aulick 
requested  that,  if  his  letter  of  explanation  of  Febru 
ary  17,  1853,  were  not  deemed  satisfactory,  a  court  of 
inquiry,  or  court  martial,  be  ordered  for  his  trial. 
After  careful  examination,  the  secretary  wrote,  Au 
gust  2,  1853,  clearing  Aulick  of  all  blame,  accompany 
ing  his  letter  with  waiting  orders.  In  the  letter  of  the 
gratified  officer  in  response  dated  August  4,  1853, 
we  have  the  last  word  in  this  painful  episode  in  naval 
history,  in  which  the  brave  veteran  was  nearly  sacri 
ficed  by  the  stray  gossip  of  a  civilian  apparently  more 
eager  to  curry  Brazilian  favor  than  to  do  eternal  or 
even  American  justice. 

One  can  easily  see  why,  in  addition  to  the  rooted 
instinct  of  a  lifetime,  Perry,  in  the  light  of  Aulick's 
misfortune,  declined  to  allow  miscellaneous  corres 
pondence  with  the  newspapers,  and  sternly  refused 
to  admit  on  the  Japan  expedition  a  single  person  not 
under  naval  discipline. 

The  chronological  order  of  facts  as  revealed  by  the 
study  of  the  documents  is  this  :  On  the  i/th  of 
November  1851,  Secretary  Graham  dictated  the 
order  of  recall  to  Commodore  Aulick.  On  the  next 
day,  he  wrote  the  following  :  — 


AMERICAN    EXPEDITION    TO    JAPAN.  289 

NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  November  18,  1851. 
COMMODORE  M.  C.  PERRY,  U.  S.  NAVY,  NEW  YORK. 

Sir, — Proceed  to  Washington   immediately,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  conferring  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Respectfully 

WILL.  A.  GRAHAM. 

Unusual  press  of  business  and  the  writing  of  his 
report  for  the  impending  session  of  Congress  caused 
the  receipt  by  Perry  on  his  arrival  in  Washington,  of 
a  note,  dated  November  26,  the  substance  of  which 
was  'that  the  Secretary  was  so  busy  that  he  could  not 
consider  the  business  for  which  Perry  was  called 
from  home,  until  after  Congress  had  met.  He  need 
not,  therefore,  wait  in  Washington  but  was  at  liberty 
to  go  home  and  wait  instructions.  This  was  the  first 
thorn  of  the  rose  on  the  way  to  the  Thornrose  castle, 
in  the  Pacific. 

Somewhat  vexed,  as  Perry  must  have  been,  at 
being  forced  on  a  seeming  fool's  errand,  he  possessed 
his  soul  in  patience,  and,  at  home  expressed  his 
mind  on  paper  as  follows  : — 

NORTH  TARRYTOWN,  N.  Y.,  December  3,  1851. 
Sir, —  Seeing  that  you  were  so  much  occupied  during 
my  stay  at  Washington,  I  was  careful  not  to  intrude  upon 
your  time  and  consequently  had  little  opportunity  of  con 
versing  with  you  upon  the  business  which  caused  me  to  be 
ordered  to  that  city  —  it  has,  therefore,  occured  to  me, 
whether  it  would  not  be  desirable  that  I  should  write  down 
the  accompanying  notes,  in  further  explanation  of  the 


290  MATTHEW     CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

views  entertained  by  me,  with  reference  to  the  subject 
under  consideration. 

So  far  as  respects  my  own  wishes,  I  confess  that  it  will', 
to  me,  be  a  serious  disappointment,  and  cause  of  personal 
inconvenience  not  to  go  to .  the  Mediterranean,  as  I  was 
led  to  believe  from  various  reliable  sources  that  it  had 
been  the  intention  of  the  Department  to  assign  me  to  the 
command,  and  had  made  arrangements  accordingly  ;  but 
I  hold  that  an  officer  is  bound  to  go  where  his  services  are 
most  required,  yet  I  trust  I  may  be  pardoned  for  express 
ing  a  strong  disinclination  to  go  out  as  the  mere  relief  or 
successor  to  Commodore  Aulick  without  being  charged 
with  some  more  important  service,  and  with  a  force  com 
petent  to  a  possible  successful  issue  the  expectations  of  the 
government. 

Advance  in  rank  and  command  is  the  greatest  incentive 
to  a  officer,  and,  having  already  been  intrusted  \vi;h 
two  squadrons,  one  of  them  the  largest  one  put  afloat 
since  the  creation  of  the  navy,  I  could  only  look  to  the 
Mediterranean  for  advance  in  that  respect,  as  that  station, 
in  time  of  peace,  has  always  been  looked  upon  as  the  most 
desirable.  Hence  it  may  not  be  surprising  that  I  con 
sider  the  the  relief  of  Commodore  Aulick  who  is  much  my 
junior  and  served  under  me  in  my  second  squadron,  a 
retrograde  movement  in  that  great  and  deeply  fostered 
aim  of  an  officer  of  proper  ambition,  to  push  forward; 
unless  indeed,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  the  sphere  of 
action  of  the  East  India  squadron  and  its  force  be  so 
much  enlarged  as  to  hold  out  a  well-grounded  hope  of  its 
conferring  distinction  upon  its  commander. 

Doubtless  there  are  others  my  juniors  as  competent,  if 
not  more  so,  who  would  gladly  accept  the  command  as  it 


AMERICAN    EXPEDITION    TO    JAPAN.  2QI 

now  is  and,  if  it  is  not  intended  to  augment  it  in  view  of 
carrying  out  the  important  object  with  respect  to  Japan,  I 
may  confidently  hope  that  in  accordance  with  your  kind 
promise  on  the  occasion  of  my  interview  with  you  at  your 
house,  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  my  arrival  in  Wash 
ington,  I  shall  still  be  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
Mediterranean  squadron. 

In  thus  expressing  myself  freely  to  you  I  feel  assured 
from  a  knowledge  of  your  hign  tone  of  character,  that  you 
will  fully  appreciate  the  motives  which  have  influenced  me 
in  desiring  to  embark  only  in  that  service  in  the  prosecu 
tion  of  which  I  could  anticipate  a  chance  of  success,  or 
even  escape  from  mortification,  disappointment,  and 
failure. 

With  great  respect  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Your   most  obedient  servrnt, 

M.  C.  PERRY. 
THE  HON.  WM.  GRAHAM, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  secretary's  clerk  wrote  January  14,  1852, 
"  Commodore  Perry  will  proceed  to  Washington 
and  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  without  de 
lay."  The  head  of  the  Department  added  in  auto 
graph,  "  Report  in  person  at  the  Department."  This 
time  the  trip  to  the  Capital  was  made  with  some 
thing  definite  in  view. 

On  the  6th  of  March,  he  received  orders  from  the 
Department  detaching  him  from  the  superintendence 
of  United  States  Mail  Steamers  and  transferring  the 
command  to  Commodore  Reany.  He  had,  since 


2Q2  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH     PERRY. 

January  9,  1849,  been  in  active  connection  with  steam 
ship  owners,  manufacturers  and  inventors,  and  been 
engaged  in  testing  the  newest  inventions  and  im 
provements  in  steam  navigation.  The  transfer  was 
duly  made  on  the  8th,  and  on  the  230!,  we  find  Perry 
again  in  Washington  holding  long  conversation  with 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Hon.  W.  A.  Graham,  on 
the  outfit  and  personnel  of  the  proposed  Japan  expe 
dition.  On  the  24th,  he  received  formal  orders  to 
command  the  East  India  squadron. 

One  of  the  first  officers  detailed  to  assist  the  Com 
modore  was  Lieut.  Silas  Bent  who  had  been  with 
Glynn  on  the  Preble  at  Nagasaki.  He  was  ordered 
to  report  on  board  the  Mississippi.  Perry's  "  Fidus 
Achates,"  Captain  Henry  A.  Adams,  and  his  special 
friends,  Captains  Franklin  Buchanan,  Sidney  Smith 
Lee,  were  invited  and  gladly  accepted.  His  exceed 
ing  care  in  the  selection  of  the  personnel*  of  the  ex 
pedition  is  shown  in  a  letter  from  the  "  Moorings" 
dated  February  2,  1852.  to  Captain  Franklin  Bu 
chanan.  He  expected  them  to  embark  by  the  first  of 
April,  and  sent  his  ships  ahead  laden  with  coal  for 
the  war  steamers  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and 
Mauritius.  He  congratulates  his  old  friend  on  a 
new  arrival  in  his  household,  "  You  certainly  bid  fair 
to  have  a  great  many  grandchildren  in  the  course  of 
time.  I  already  have  eight." 

"  In  selecting  your  officers,  pray  be  careful  in 
choosing  them  of  a  subordinate  and  gentlemanlike 

*Sce  complete  list,  vol.  II.  of  his  official  Report. 


AMERICAN    EXPEDITION    TO    JAPAN.  293 

character.  We  shall  be  obliged  to  govern  in  some 
measure,  as  McKeever  says,  by  moral  suasion. 
Mclntosh,  I  see  by  the  papers,  has  changed  with 
Commander  Pearson  and  leaves  the  Congress,  and  is 
now  on  his  way  home  in  the  Falmonth.  We  shall 
now  learn  how  the  philanthropic  principle  of  moral 
suasion  answers." 

The  reference  is  to  the  state  of  things  consequent 
upon  the  abolition  of  flogging.  Perry  was  to  gather 
and  lead  to  peaceful  victory,  the  first  American 
fleet  governed  without  the  lash. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

PREPARATIONS    FOR    JAPAN.       AN    INTERNATIONAL 
EPISODE. 

THE  charts  used  in  the  Japan  expedition  came 
mostly  from  Holland,  and  cost  our  government 
thirty  thousand  dollars.  Perry  does  not  seern  to 
have  been  aware  that  Captain  Mercator  Cooper  of 
Sag  Harbor,  Long  Island,  had  brought  home  fairly 
good  Japanese  charts  of  the  Bay  of  Yedo,  more  ac 
curate  probably  than  any  which  he  was  able  to  pur 
chase.  Captain  Beechey  of  the  B.  M.  S.  Blossom,. 
had  surveyed  carefully  the  seas  around  Riu  Kin. 
The  large  coast-line  map  of  Japan,  in  four  sheets, 
made  on  modern  scientific  principles  by  a  wealthy 
Japanese  who  had  expended  his  fortune  and  suffered 
imprisonment  for  his  work,  which  was  published 
posthumously,  was  not  then  accessible. 

Intelligent  Japanese  have  been  eager  to  know,  and 
more  than  one  has  asked  the  writer:  "  How  did 
Perry  get  his  knowledge  of  our  country  and  people  ?  " 
We  answer  that  he  made  diligent  study  of  books  and 
men.  He  had  asked  for  permission  to  purchase  all 
necessary  books  at  a  reasonable  price.  Von  Siebold's 
colossal  work  was  a  mine  of  information  from  which 
European  book-makers  were  beginning  to  quarry,  as. 


AN    INTERNATIONAL    EPISODE. 

they  had  long  clone  from  Engelbert  Kaempfer,  but 
the  importer's  price  of  Von  SiebolcTs  Archiv  was 
$503.  The  interest  excited  in  England  by  the  ex 
pedition  caused  the  publication  in  London  of  a  cheap 
reprint  of  Kaempfer. 

By  setting  K  motion  the  machinery  of  the  libra 
rians  and  book-collectors  in  New  York  and  London, 
Perry  was  able  to  secure  a  library  on  the  subject. 
He  speedily  and  thoroughly  mastered  their  contents. 

So  far  from  Japan  being  a  terra  incognita  in  litera 
ture,  it  had  been  even  then  more  written  about  than 
Turkey.  Few  far  Eastern  Asiatic  nations  have 
reason  to  be  proud  of  so  voluminous  and  polyglot 
a  European  library  concerning  themselves  as  the 
Japanese.  On  the  subject  about  which  information 
was  as  defective  as  it  was  most  needed,  was  the 
political  situation  of  modern  Japan  and  the  true  rela 
tion  of  the  "Tycoon"  to  the  Mikado. 

Earnestly  desirous  of  impressing  the  Japanese 
with  American  resources  and  inventions,  the  Commo 
dore  on  March  27th,  1851,  had  notified  the  Depart 
ment  of  his  intention  to  obtain  specimens  of  every 
sort  of  mechanical  products,  arms  and  machinery, 
with  statistical  and  other  volumes  illustrating  the  ad 
vance  of  the  useful  arts.  In  addition  to  this,  he 
notified  manufacturers  of  his  wish  to  obtain  samples 
of  every  description.  Armed  with  letters  from  his 
friends,  the  Appletons  of  New  York,  he  visited  Al 
bany,  Boston,  New  Bedford  and  Providence  to  obtain 
what  he  desired,  and  to  inquire  into  personal  details 


296  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

and  statistics  of  the  American  whalers  engaged  in 
Japanese  and  Chinese  waters.  An  unexpected!^ 
great  interest  was  arising  from  all  quarters  concern 
ing  Japan  and  the  expedition  thither.  All  with  whoii' 
he  had  interviews  were  enthusiastic  and  liberal  ir, 
aiding  him.  At  New  Bedford  he  learned  thai 
American  capital  to  the  amount  of  seventeen  mil 
lions  was  invested  in  the  whaling  industry  in  the 
seas  of  Japan  and  China.  Thousands  of  our  sailors 
manned  the  ships  thus  employed. 

This  was  before  the  days  of  petroleum  and  the 
electric  light.  It  explained  also  why  American  ship 
wrecked  sailors  were  so  often  found  in  Japan.  There 
were  reciprocal  additions  to  the  populations  on  both 
sides  of  the  Pacific.  While  the  Kuro  Shiwo,  or 
Black  Current,  was  sweeping  Japanese  junks  out  to 
sea  and  lining  the  west  coast  of  North  America  with 
wrecks  and  waifs,  the  rocky  shores  of  the  Sunrise 
Kingdom  were  liberally  strewn  with  castaways,  to 
whom  the  American  flag  was  the  sign  of  home. 

The  cause  of  this  remarkable  development  of 
American  enterprise  in  distant  seas  lay  in  the  liberal 
policy  of  Russia  toward  our  people.  Our  first  treaty 
of  1824  declared  the  navigation  and  fisheries  of  the 
Pacific  free  to  both  nations.  The  second  convention 
of  1838,  signed  by  James  Buchanan  and  Count  Nes- 
selrode,  guaranteed  to  citizens  of  the  United  States 
freedom  to  enter  all  ports,  places  and  rivers  on  the 
Alaskan  coast  under  Russian  protection.  Already 
the  northern  Pacific  was  virtually  an  American 
possession. 


AN    INTERNATIONAL    EPISODE.  2Q/ 

There  was  great  eagerness  on  the  part  of  scientific 
men  and  learned  societies  to  be  represented  in  the 
proposed  expedition.  Much  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  Commodore  to  organize  a  corps  of 
experts  in  the  sciences,  or  to  allow  favored  indi 
vidual  civilians  to  enter  the  fleet.  Perry  firmly 
declined  all  such  offers. 

He  proposed  to  duplicate  none  of  his  predecessor's 
blunders,  nor  to  imperil  his  personal  reputation  or 
the  success  of  a  costly  expedition  by  the  presence  of 
landsmen  of  any  sort  on  board.  He  sent  his  son 
to  China  at  his  own  private  expense.  The  expedi 
tion  was  saved  the  previous  tribulations  of  Aulick,  or 
the  later  afflictions  of  De  Long  in  \ktjeannettc. 

As  illustrating  the  variety  of  subordinate  matters 
to  be  looked  into,  he  was  instructed  to  inquire  con 
cerning  the  product  of  sulphur,  and  about  weights 
and  measures.  The  Norris  Brothers  of  Philadelphia 
furnished  the  little  locomotive  'and  rails  to  be  laid 
down  in  Japan.  These,  with  a  thousand  other 
details  were  carefully  studied  by  the  Commodore. 

Indeed  it  may  be  truly  said  that  Perry's  thorough 
grasp  of  details  before  he  left  the  United  States 
made  him  already  master  of  the  situation.  He  knew 
just  what  to  do,  and  how  to  do  it.  The  Japanese  did 
not.  He  appreciated  the  advantage  of  having  sailor, 
engineer,  diplomatist  and  captain  in  one  man,  and 
that  man  himself.  Not  so  with  Rodgers  in  Corea,  in 
1871. 

If  Perry,  after  his  appointment  as  special  envoy  of 


2C,8  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

the  United  States  to  Japan,  had  trusted  entirely  to 
his  official  superiors,  he  would  probably  never  have 
obtained  his  fleet  or  won  a  treaty.  Four  months 
after  receiving  his  appointment,  the  Whig  conven 
tion  met  in  Baltimore,  June  the  i6th.  When  it  ad 
journed,  on  June  22nd,  the  ticket  nominated  was 
"  Scott  and  Graham."  Thenceforth,  Secretary 
Graham  took  little  or  no  practical  interest  in  Japan 
or  Perry.  The  Commodore's  first  and  hardest  task 
was  to  conquer  lethargy  at  home.  One  instance  of 
his  foresight  is  seen  in  his  care  for  a  sure  supply  of 
coal,  without  which  side-wheel  steamers,  almost  the 
only  ones  then  in  the  navy,  were  worse  than  useless. 
He  directed  Messrs.  Rowland  and  Aspinwall  to  send 
out  two  coal  ships,  one  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
and  the  other  to  Mauritius.  These  floating  depots 
were  afterwards  of  the  greatest  service  to  the  advance 
and  following  steamers,  Mississippi,  Powhatan  and 
Alleghany. 

A  lively  episode  in  international  politics  occurred 
in  July,  1852,  which  Perry  was  called  upon  to  settle. 
New  England  was  convulsed  over  the  seizure  of 
American  fishing  vessels  by  British  cruisers.  Con 
gress  being  still  in  session,  the  opposition  were  not 
slow  to  denounce  the  Administration. 

Mr.  Fillmore  invited  Mr.  John  P.  Kennedy  of 
"  Swallow  Barn"  literary  fame  to  succeed  Mr.  Gra 
ham  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  Mr.  Kennedy  took 
his  seat  in  the  cabinet  July  24th.  The  excitement 
over  the  fishery  question  was  then  at  fever  heat. 


AN    INTERNATIONAL    EPISODE.  299 

Mutterings  of  war  were  already  heard  in  the  news 
papers.  Employment  for  the  Mexican  veterans 
seemed  promising. 

The  cabinet  decided  that  the  new  secretary 
should  give  the  law,  and  that  Perry  should  exe 
cute  it.  Mr.  Kennedy,  who  wisely  saw  Perry 
first,  proceeded  to  draft  the  letter.  On  the  night 
of  July  28th  his  studies  resulted  in  a  brilliant  state 
paper,  which  occupies  seven  folio  pages  in  the  Book 
of  Confidential  Letters,  and  he  then  retired  to  rest. 
Naturally  his  maiden  effort  in  diplomacy  tried  his 
nerves.  His  broken  sleep  was  disturbed  with  dreams 
of  codfish  and  the  shades  of  Lord  Aberdeen  till 
morning. 

Once  more  summoning  to  his  aid  his  old  sea-racer 
the  Mississippi,  Captain  McCluney,  Perry  left  New 
York  July  3ist,  1852,  stopping  at  Eastport,  Maine, 
to  get  fresh  information.  There  was  much  irritation 
felt  by  British  residents  at  the  alleged  depredations 
of  American  fishermen,  who,  instead  of  buying  their 
ice,  bait,  fuel  and  other  supplies,  were  sometimes 
tempted  to  make  raids  on  the  shores  of  the  islands. 
One  excited  person  wrote  to  the  admiral  of  the  fleet  : 

"  For  God's  sake  send  a  man-of-war  here,  for  the 
Americans  are  masters  of  the  place  —  one  hundred 
sail  are  now  lying  in  the  harbor.  They  have  stolen 
my  fire- wood  and  burnt  it  on  the  beach."  They  had 
also  set  fire  to  the  woods  and  committed  other  spolia 
tions.  Collisions  with  the  British  cruisers  were  im 
minent,  and  acts  easily  leading  to  war  were  feared  by 
the  cabinet. 


3OO  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Perry  proceeded  to  Halifax.  He  traversed  the 
coast  of  Cape  Breton  Island,  around  Magdalen,  and 
along  the  north  shore  of  Prince  Edward's  Island, 
visiting  the  resorts  of  the  Yankee  fishermen,  and 
passing  large  fleets  of  our  vessels.  He  found  by 
experience,  and  was  satisfied,  that  there  had  been 
repeated  infractions  of  treaty,  for  which  seven  seiz 
ures  had  been  made  by  British  cruisers  then  in  com 
mand  of  Admiral  Seymour.  The  question,  at  this 
issue,  concerning  the  rights  of  Americans  fishing  in 
Canadian  waters,  was  one  of  geographical  science 
rather  than  of  diplomacy.  It  rested  upon  the  answer 
given  to  this,  "  What  are  bays  ?  "  The  last  convention 
betw-een  the  two  countries  had  been  made  in  1818, 
when  the  United  States  renounced  her  right  to  fish 
within  three  miles  of  any  of  the  coasts,  bays  and  har 
bors  of  Canada.  Only  after  a  number  of  American  ves 
sels  had  been  seized  and  prosecuted  in  the  court  at  Hali 
fax,  was  this  treaty  made.  Including  those  captured 
for  violating  the  convention  of  1818,  the  number  was 
sixty  in  all.  The  British  said  to  Perry  that  the 
Americans  had  no  right  to  take  fish  within  three 
marine  miles  of  the  shore  of  a  British  province,  or 
within  three  miles  of  a  line  drawn  from  headland  to 
headland  across  bays.  Canadians  in  American  bot 
toms  were  especially  expert  in  evading  this  law. 

Perry  found  the  American  fishermen  were  intelli 
gent  and  understood  the  treaty,  but  he  thought  that 
the  Canadian  government  was  too  severe  upon  them. 
About  2500  vessels  and  27,500  men  from  our  ports 


AN    INTERNATIONAL    EPISODE.  3<DI 

took  part  in  the  hazardous  occupation,  "  thus  furnish 
ing,"  said  the  Commodore,  "  a  nursery  for  seamen, 
of  inestimable  advantage  to  the  maritime  interests  of 
the  nation."  Added  to  the  force  employed  in  whal 
ing  in  the  North  Atlantic,  there  were  thirty  thousand 
men,  mostly  native  Americans,  whose  business  was 
with  salt-water  fish  and  mammals.  At  one  point  he 
saw  a  fleet  of  five  hundred  sail  of  mackerel  fishers. 

This  diplomatic  voyage  revealed  both  the  dangers 
and  pathos  of  the  sailor-fisherman's  life.  No  class 
of  men  engaged  in  any  industry  are  subjected  to  such 
sufferings,  privations  and  perils.  Their  own  name 
for  the  fishing  grounds  is  "The  Graveyard." 

The  commercial  and  naval  success  of  this  country 
is  largely  the  result  of  the  enterprise  and  seamanship 
shown  in  the  whaling  fisheries.  These  nurseries  of 
the  American  navy  had  enabled  the  United  States  in 
two  wars  to  achieve  on  the  seas  so  many  triumphs 
over  Great  Britain.  By  the  same  agencies,  Perry 
hoped  to  see  his  country  become  the  greatest  com 
mercial  rival  of  Great  Britain.  This  could  be  done 
by  looking  to  the  quality  of  the  common  sailor,  and 
maintaining  the  standard  of  1812.  For  such  reasons, 
if  for  no  others,  the  fisheries  should  be  encouraged. 

Perry  came  to  adjust  amicably  the  respective  rights 
of  both  British  and  American  seamen.  He  warned 
his  countrymen  against  encroaching  upon  the  limits 
prescribed  by  the  convention  of  1818,  but  at  the  same 
time  he  would  protect  American  vessels  from  visita 
tion  or  interference  at  points  left  in  doubt.  His 


3O2  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

mission  had  a  happy  consummation.  The  wholesome 
effect  of  the  Mississippi's  visit  paved  the  way  for  the 
reciprocity  treaty  between  Canada  and  the  United 
States,  negotiated  at  Washington  soon  after  by  Sir 
Ambrose  Shea,  and  signed  June  5th,  1854.  The 
entrance  of  Mr.  Kennedy  in  the  cabinet  was  thus 
made  both  successful  and  brilliant  by  Commodore 
Perry.  The  "hiatus  secretary"  bridged  the  gulf  of 
war  with  the  firm  arch  of  peace.  The  reciprocity 
treaty  lasted  twelve  years,  when  the  irrepressible 
root  of  bitterness  again  sprouted.  Despite  diplomacy, 
correspondence,  treaties,  and  Joint  High  Commis 
sions,  still,  at  this  writing,  in  1887,  it  vexes  the 
peace  of  two  nations.  The  axe  is  not  yet  laid  at  the 
root  of  the  trouble. 

John  P.  Kennedy,  another  of  the  able  literary  men 
who  have  filled  the  chair  of  secretary  of  the  navy, 
was  an  ardent  advocate  of  exploration  and  peaceful 
diplomacy.  He  was  heartily  in  favor  of  the  Japan 
expedition.  Perry  trusted  in  him  so  fully  that,  at 
last,  tired  of  innumerable  delays,  having  made  pro 
found  study  of  the  problem  and  elaborated  details  of 
preparation,  he  determined  on  his  return  from  New 
foundland,  September  I5th,  to  sail  in  a  few  weeks  in 
the  Mississippi,  relying  upon  the  Secretary's  word 
that  other  vessels  would  be  hurried  forward  with 
despatch. 

Repairing  to  Washington,  the  Commodore  had 
long  and  earnest  interviews  with  the  Secretaries  of 
the  State  and  Navy.  Things  were  now  beginning  to 


AN    INTERNATIONAL    EPISODE.  303 

assume  an  air  of  readiness,  yet  his  instructions,  from 
the  State  department,  had  not  yet  been  prepared. 
Mr.  Webster  at  this  time  was  only  nominally  holding 
office  in  the  vain  hope  of  recovery  to  health  after  a 
fall  from  his  horse.  Perry,  seeing  his  condition,  and 
fearing  further  delays,  asked  of  Mr.  Webster,  through 
General  James  Watson  Webb,  permission  to  write 
his  own  instructions. 

We  must  tell  the  story  in  General  Webb's  own 
words  as  found  in  The  New  York  Courier  and 
Inquirer,  and  as  we  heard  them  reiterated  by  him  in 
a  personal  interview  shortly  before  his  death  :  — 

"  In  the  last  of  those  interviews  when  we  were 
desired  by  Perry  to  urge  certain  matters  which  he 
thought  should  be  embraced  in  his  instructions, 
Mr.  Webster,  with  that  wisdom  and  foresight  and 
knowledge,  for  which  he  was  so  eminently  the  su 
perior  of  ordinary  men,  remarked  as  follows  : 

'The  success  of  this  expedition  depends  solely 
upon  whether  it  is  in  the  hands  of  the  right  man. 
It  originated  with  him,  and  he  of  all  others  knows 
best  how  it  is  to  be  successfully  carried  into  effect. 
And  if  this  be  so,  he  is  the  proper  person  to  draft 
his  instructions.  Let  him  go  to  work,  therefore,  and 
prepare  instructions  for  himself,  let  them  be  very  brief, 
and  if  they  do  not  contain  some  very  exceptionable 
matter,  he  may  rest  assured  they  will  not  be  changed. 
It  is  so  important  that  if  the  expedition  sail  it  should 
be  successful,  and  to  ensure  success  its  commander 
should  not  be  trammeled  with  superfluous  or  minute 


304  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

instructions.'  We  reported  accordingly,  and  there 
upon  Commodore  Perry,  as  we  can  vouch,  for  we 
were  present,  prepared  the  original  draft  of  his  in 
structions  under  which  he  sailed  for  Japan." 

Mr.  Webster's  successor  and  intimate  personal 
friend,  Edward  Everett,  simply  carried  out  the  wishes 
of  his  predecessor  and  made  no  alteration  in  the  in 
structions  to  Perry.  He,  however,  indited  a  new 
letter  to  the  "  Emperor,"  which  is  only  an  expansion 
of  the  Websterian  original.  Everett's  "effort"  dif 
fered  from  Daniel  Webster's  letter,  very  much  as  the 
orator's  elaboration  on  a  certain  battle  field  differed 
from  Lincoln's  simple  speech.  At  Gettysburg  the 
one  had  the  lamp,  the  other  had  immortality  in  it. 

The  Japan  document  was  superbly  engrossed  and 
enclosed  in  a  gold  box  which  cost  one  thousand 
dollars. 

The  Princeton,  a  new  screw  sloop-of-war  had  been 
promised  to  him  many  months  before,  but  the  autumn 
was  well  advanced  before  her  hull,  empty  of  machin 
ery  and  towed  to  New  York,  was  visible.  Captain 
Sydney  Smith  Lee  was  to  command  her.  In  the 
Mississippi,  Perry  towed  her  to  Baltimore.  Then 
began  another  of  those  exasperating  stages  of  sus 
pense  and  delay  to  which  naval  men  are  called,  and 
to  endure  which  seems  to  be  the  special  cross  of  the 
profession.  Waiting  until  November,  as  eagerly  as  a 
blockader  waits  for  an  expected  prize  from  port,  he 
wrote  to  his  old  comrade,  Joshua  R.  Sands  :  — 


AN    INTERNATIONAL    EPISODE.  305 

"  I  am  desirous  of  having  you  again  under  my  command, 
and  always  have  been,  but  until  now  no  good  opportunity 
has  occurred  consistently  with  promises  I  had  made  to 
Buchanan,  Lee,  and  Adams. 

The  Macedonian  and  Alleghany  will  soon  have  comman 
ders  appointed  to  them.  For  myself  I  would  prefer  the 
Alleghany,  as  from  her  being  a  steamer  she  will  have  a 
better  chance  for  distinction,  and  I  want  a  dasher  like 
yourself  in  her. 

Rather  than  have  inconvenient  delay  on  account  of 
men,  I  would  prefer  that  you  take  an  over-proportion  of 
young  American  landsmen  who  would  in  a  very  short 
time  become  more  effective  men  in  a  steamer  than 
middle-aged  seamen  of  questionable  constitutions." 

Commander  Sands  was  eventually  unable  to  go 
with  Perry  to  Japan  ;  but  afterwards,  in  his  eighty- 
ninth  year  the  Rear-Admiral,  then  the  oldest  living 
officer  of  the  navy,  in  a  long  letter  to  the  writer 
gleefully  calls  attention  to  Perry's  trust  in  young 
American  landsmen.  The  Princeton  was  finally 
extricated,  and  with  the  Mississippi  moved  down  the 
Chesapeake.  Before  leaving  Annapolis,  a  grand 
farewell  reception  was  held  on  the  flag-ship's  spacious 
deck.  The  President,  Mr.  Fillmore,  Secretary  Ken 
nedy,  and  a  brilliant  throng  of  people  bade  the 
Commodore  and  officers  farewell. 

The  Mississippi  and  the  Princeton  then  steamed 
down  the  bay  together,  when  the  discovery  was  made 
of  the  entire  unntness  of  the  screw  steamer  to  make 
the  voyage.  Her  machinery  failed  utterly,  and  at 


306  MATTHEW    CALBRA1TH    PERRY. 

Norfolk,  the  Powhatan,  which  had  just  arrived  from 
the  West  Indies,  was  substituted  in  her  place.  The 
precedent  of  building  only  the  best  steamers,  on  the 
best  models,  and  of  the  best  materials,  set  by  Perr) 
in  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  had  not  been  followed, 
and  disappointment  was  the  result.  The  Princctoh 
never  did  get  to  sea.  She  was  a  miserable  failure 
in  every  respect,  and  was  finally  sent  to  Philadelphia 
to  end  her  days  as  a  receiving  ship. 

On  the  evening  before  the  day  the  Commodore 
left  to  go  on  board  his  ship  then  lying  at  Hampton 
Roads,  a  banquet  was  tendered  him  by  a  club  of 
gentlemen  who  then  occupied  a  house  on  G  street, 
west  of  the  War  Department,  now  much  modernized 
and  used  as  the  office  of  the  Signal  corps. 

There  were  present  at  this  banquet,  as  invited 
guests,  Commodore  M.  C.  Perry,  Lieutenant  John 
Contee,  and  a  few  other  officers  of  the  Commodore's 
staff,  Edward  Everett,  Hon.  John  P.  Kennedy - 
"  Horseshoe  Robinson,"  the  "  hiatus  Secretary"  of 
the  navy  —  Col.  W.  W.  Seaton,  the  Hon.  Alexander 
H.  H.  Stuart,  Mr.  Badger,  senator  from  North  Caro 
lina,  John  J.  Crittenden  of  Kentucky,  Jefferson 
Davis,  the  Honorables  Beverly  Tucker,  Phillip  T. 
Ellicot,  Theodore  Kane,  Johnson,  Addison,  and 
Horace  Capron  afterwards  general  of  cavalry,  and 
Commissioner  of  Agriculture  at  Washington,  and  in 
the  service  of  the  Mikado's  government  from  1871  to 
1874,  making  in  all  a  party  of  about  twenty-four. 
The  dinner  was  served  by  Wormley,  the  famous 
colored  caterer. 


AN    INTERNATIONAL    EPISODE.  3O/ 

General  Capron  says  in  a  letter  dated  September 
i3th, 


"  I  can  only  state  the  impressions  made  upon  my  mind 
by  that  gathering,  and  the  clear  and  well-defined  plans  o£ 
the  Commodore's  proposed  operations  which  were  brought 
out  in  response  to  the  various  queries.  It  was  apparent 
that  all  present  were  well  convinced  that  the  Commodore 
fully  comprehended  the  difficulties  and  the  delicate  char 
acter  of  the  work  before  him.  ...  I  am  bound  to  say 
that  to  my  mind  it  is  clear  that  no  power  but  that  of  the 
Almighty  Disposer  of  all  things  could  have  guided  our 
rulers  in  the  selection  of  a  man  for  this  most  important 
work." 

Perry's  written  instructions  were  to  fulfil  the  unex 
ecuted  orders  given  to  Commodore  Aulick,  to  assist 
as  far  as  possible  the  American  minister  in  China  in 
prosecuting  the  claims  of  Americans  upon  the  gov 
ernment  of  Pekin,  to  explore  the  coasts,  make  pictures 
and  obtain  all  possible  hydrographic  and  other  infor 
mation  concerning  the  countries  to  be  visited.  No 
letters  were  to  be  written  from  the  ships  of  the 
squadron  to  the  newspapers,  and  all  journals  kept  by 
officers  or  men  were  to  be  the  property  of  the  navy 
Department.  The  Secretary,  in  his  final  letter, 
said  :  — 

"In  prosecuting  the  objects  of  your  mission  to  Japan 
you  are  invested  with  large  discretionary  powers,  and  you 
are  authorized  to  employ  dispatch  vessels,  interpreters, 
Kroomen,  or  natives,  and  all  other  means  which  you  may 


3O8  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

deem  necessary  to  enable  you  to  bring  about  the  desired 
results. 

"Tendering  you  my  best  wishes  for  a  successful  cruise, 
and  a  safe  return  to  your  country  and  friends  for  yourself, 
officers  and  companies  of  your  ships, 

I  am,  etc., 

JOHN  P.  KENNEDY. 

From  its  origin,  the  nature  of  the  mission  was 
"essentially  executive,"  and  therefore  pacific,  as  the 
President  had  no  power  to  declare  war.  Yet  the 
show  of  force  was  relied  on  as  more  likely,  than  any 
thing  else,  to  weigh  with  the  Japanese.  Perry  be 
lieved  in  the  policy  of  Commodore  Patterson  at 
Naples  in  1832,  where  the  pockets  of  recalcitrant 
debtors  were  influenced  through  sight  and  the 
imagination. 

The  British  felt  a  keen  and  jealous  interest  in  the 
expedition.  The  Times,  which  usually  reflects  the 
average  Briton's  opinion  as  faithfully  as  a  burnished 
mirror  the  charms  of  a  Japanese  damsel,  said  : —  "It 
was  to  be  doubted  whether  the  Emperor  of  Japan 
would  receive  Commodore  Perry  with  most  indigna 
tion  or  most  contempt."  Japanese  treachery  was 
feared,  and  while  one  editorial  oracle  most  seriously 
declared  that  "  the  Americans  must  not  leave  their 
wooden  walls,"  Punch  insisted  that  "Perry  must 
open  the  Japanese  ports,  even  if  he  has  to  open  his 
own."  Sydney  Smith  had  said,  "I  am  for  bombard 
ing  all  the  exclusive  Asiatics,  who  shut  up  the  earth 


AN    INTERNATIONAL    EPISODE.  3CQ 

and  will  not  let  me  walk  civilly  through  it,  doing  no 
harm  and  paying  for  all  I  want."  The  ideal  of  a 
wooer  of  the  Japanese  Thornrose,  according  to 
another,  was  that  no  blustering  bully  or  roaring 
Commodore  would  succeed.  "  Our  embassador 
should  be  one  who,  with  the  winning  manner  of  a 
Jesuit,  unites  the  simplicity  of  soul  and  straightfor 
wardness  of  a  Stoic." 

Providence  timed  the  sailing  of  the  American 
Expedition  and  the  advent  of  the  ruler  of  New  Japan 
so  that  they  should  occur  well  nigh  simultaneously. 
The  first  circumnavigation  of  the  globe  by  a  steam 
war  vessel  of  the  United  States  began  when  Matthew 
Perry  left  Norfolk,  November  24th,  iSS^trTree  weeks 
after  the  birth  in  Kioto  of  Mutsuhito,  the  I23d,  and 
now  reigning  Mikado  of  "  Everlasting  Great  Japan." 

Perry  had  remained  long  enough  to  learn  the 
result  of  the  national  election,  and  the  choice  of  his 
old  friend  Franklin  Pierce  to  the  Presidency.  Tired 
of  delay,  he  sailed  with  the  Mississippi  alone.  At 
Funchal  the  Commodore  made  official  calls  in  the 
fashionable  conveyance  of  the  place,  a  sled  drawn  by 
oxen,  and  laid  in  supplies  of  beef  and  coal.  The 
incidents  on  the  way  out,  and  of  the  stops  made 
at  Madeira,  St.  Helena,  Cape  Town,  Mauritius,  Cey 
lon  and  Singapore,  have  been  described  by  himself, 
in  his  official  narrative,  and  by  his  critic  J.  W. 
Spalding,*  a  clerk  on  the  flag-ship.  Anchor  was  cast 
off  Hong  Kong  on  the  6th  of  April,  where  the  Ply- 
month,  Saratoga,  and  Supply,  were  met.  The  next 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 


PERRY    MAKING    OFFICIAL    CALLS    IN    FUNCHAL. 

day  was  devoted  to  the  burning  of  powder  in  salutes,. 
and  to  the  exchange  of  courtesies.  Shanghai  was 
reached  May  4th.  Here,  Bayard  Taylor,  the  "land 
scape  painter  in  words/'  joined  the  expedition  as 
master's  mate.  The  Commodore's  flag  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  Susquehanna  on  the  i/th. 

The  low,  level  and  monotonous  and  uninterest 
ing  shores  of  China  were  left  behind  on  the 
23d,  and  on  the  26th,  the  bold,  variegated  and 
rocky  outlines  of  Riu  Kiu  rose  into  view.  An 
impressive  reception,  with  full  military  and  musi 
cal  honors,  was  given  on  the  third,  to  the  regent 
and  his  staff  on  the  Susquehanna.  The  climax  of 
all  was  the  interview  in  the  cabin.  In  lone  dignity, 


*  The  Japan  Expedition,  New  York,  1855. 


AN    INTERNATIONAL    EPISODE.  311 

the  Commodore  gave  the  Japanese  the  first  taste  of 
the  mystery-play  in  which  they  had  thus  far  so 
excelled,  and  in  which  they  were  now  to  be  outdone. 
Perry  could  equal  in  pomp  and  dignity  either  Mikado 
or  Sho-gun  when  he  chose.  He  notified  the  grand 
old  gentleman  that,  during  the  following  week,  he 
would  pay  a  visit  to  the  palace  at  Shuri.  Despite 
all  objections  and  excuses,  the  Commodore  persisted, 
as  his  whole  diplomatic  policy  was  to  be  firm,  take 
no  steps  backward,  and  stick  to  the  truth  in  every 
thing.  His  open  frankness  helped  by  its  first  blows 
to  shatter  down  that  system  of  lying,  deception,  and 
espionage,  under  which  the  national  character  had 
decayed  during  the  rule  of  the  Tokugawas. 

On  the  Qth  of  June,  with  the  Susqiiehanna  having 
the  Saratoga  in  tow,  the  Commodore  set  out  north 
wards  for  a  visit  to  the  Ogasawara  or  Bonin  islands, 
first  explored  by  the  Japanese  in  1675,  and  variously 
visited  and  named  by  European  navigators.  Captain 
Reuben  Coffin  of  Nantucket,  in  the  ship  Transit, 
from  Bristol,  owned  by  Fisher,  Kidd  and  Fisher, 
landed  on  the  southern  or  "  mother"  island  September 
1 2th,  in  1824,  fixing  also  its  position  and  giving  it  his 
name.  British  and  Russian  captains  followed  his  ex 
ample,  and  also  nailed  inscribed  sheets  of  copper 
sheathing  to  trees  in  token  of  claims  made.  "  Under 
the  auspices  of  the  Union  Jack"  a  motley  colony 
of  twenty  persons  of  five  nationalities  settled  Peel 
island,  one  of  the  group,  in  1830.  Perry  found  eight 
whites,  cultivating  nearly  one  hundred  acres  of  land, 


312  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

who  sold  fresh  supplies  to  whalers.  The  head  of  the 
community  was  Nathanael  Savory  of  Massachusetts. 
Perry  left  cattle,  sheep,  and  goods,  seeds  and  supplies 
and  an  American  flag.  He  arrived  at  Napa  again 
June  230!,  and  the  2d  of  July,  1853,  the  expedition 
left  for  the  Bay  of  Yedo.  Many  and  unforeseen  delays 
had  hindered  the  Commodore,  and  now  that  he  was 
at  the  doors  of  the  empire,  how  different  was  fulfil 
ment  from  promise!  Over  and  over  again  "an  im 
posing  squadron  "  of  twelve  vessels  had  been  prom 
ised  him,  and  now  he  had  but  two  steamers  and  two 
sloops.  Uncertain  when  the  other  vessels  might 
appear,  he  determined  to  begin  with  the  force  in 
hand.  The  Supply  left  behind,  and  the  Caprice  sent 
back  to  Shanghai,  he  had  but  the  Mississippi,  Sus- 
qiielianna,  Plymouth  and  Saratoga. 

The  promontory  of  Idzu  loomed  into  view  on  the 
hazy  morning  of  the  7th,  and  Rock  island  —  now 
crowned  by  a  lighthouse,  and  connected  by  telephone 
with  the  shore  and  with  Yokohama,  but  then  bare  — 
was  passed.  Cape  Sagami  was  reached  at  noon,  and 
at  3  o'clock  the  ships  had  begun  to  get  within  range 
of  the  forts  that  crowned  or  ridged  the  headlands  of 
the  promontory.  The  weather  cleared  and  the  cone 
of  Fuji,  in  a  blaze  of  glory,  rose  peerless  to  the  skies. 

Cautiously  the  ships  rounded  the  cape,  when  from 
one  of  the  forts  there  rose  in  the  air  a  rocket-signal. 
"Japanese  day  fire-works"  are  now  common  enough 
at  Coney  Island.  Made  of  gun  powder  and  wolf 
dung,  they  are  fired  out  of  upright  bamboo-bound 


AN    INTERNATIONAL    EPISODE.  313 

howitzers  made  of  stout  tree  trunks.  The  "shell" 
exploded  high  in  air  forming  a  cloud  of  floating  dust. 
The  black  picture  stained  the  sky  for  several  minutes. 
It  was  a  signal  to  the  army  lying  in  the  ravines,  and 
a  notice,  repeated  at  intervals,  to  the  court  at  Yedo. 
The  expected  Perry  had  "sailed  into  the  Sea  of 
Sagami  and  into  Japanese  history." 

In  the  afternoon,  the  first  steamers  ever  seen  in 
Japanese  waters,  dropped  anchor  off  Uraga.  As 
previously  ordered,  by  diagram  of  the  Commodore, 
the  ships  formed  a  line  broadside  to  the  shore.  The 
ports  were  opened,  and  the  loaded  guns  run  out. 
Every  precaution  was  taken  to  guard  against  surprise 
from  boats,  by  fire-junks,  or  whatever  native  inge 
nuity  should  devise  against  the  big  "black  ships." 

The  first  signal  made  from  the  flag-ship  was  this, 
''  Have  no  communication  with  the  shore,  have  none 
from  the  shore."  The  night  passed  quietly  and 
without  alarms.  Only  the  boom  of  the  temple  bells, 
the  glare  of  the  camp-fires,  and  the  dancing  of 
lantern  lights  told  of  life  on  the  near  land.  This  is 
the  view  from  the  American  decks.  Let  us  now 
picture  the  scene  from  the  shore,  as  native  eyes 
saw  it. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

THE    FIRE-VESSELS    OF    THE    WESTERN    BARBARIANS. 

AMONG  the  many  names  of  their  beautiful  country, 
the  Japanese  loved  none  more  than  that  of  "  Land 
of  Great  Peace,"  —a  breath  of  grateful  repose  after 
centuries  of  war.  The  genius  of  lyeyasu  had,  in. 
the  seventeenth  century,  won  rest,  and  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  millenium  of  quiet  followed.  The  fields 
trampled  down  by  the  hoof  of  the  war-horse  and  the 
sandal  of  the  warrior  had  been  re-planted,  the 
sluices  and  terraces  repaired,  and  seed  time  and 
harvest  passed  in  unintermitting  succession.  The 
merchant  bought  and  sold,  laid  up  tall  piles  of  gold 
kobans,  and  thanked  Daikoku  and  Amida  for  the 
blessings  of  wealth  and  peace.  The  shop  keeper 
held  a  balance  of  two  hundred  rios  against  the  day  of 
devouring  fire  or  wasting  sickness,  or  as  a  remainder 
for  his  children  after  the  expenses  of  his  funeral. 
The  artisan  toiled  in  sunny  content,  and  at  daily 
prayer,  thanked  the  gods  that  he  was  able  to  rear 
his  family  in  peace.  Art  and  literature  flourished. 
The  samurai,  having  no  more  use  for  his  sword,  yet  ever 
believing  it  to  be  "his  soul,"  wore  it  as  a  memento  of 
the  past  and  guard  for  the  future.  He  lounged  in 


FIRE-VESSELS    OF    WESTERN    BARBARIANS.          315 

the  tea-houses  disporting  with  the  pretty  girls;  or  if  of 
studious  tastes,  he  fed  his  mind,  and  fired  his  heart 
with  the  glories  of  Old  Japan.  As  for  the  daimios, 
they  filled  up  the  measure  of  their  existence,  alter 
nately  at  Yedo,  and  in  their  own  dominions,  with 
sensual  luxury,  idle  amusement,  or  empty  pomp.  All, 
all  was  profound  peace.  The  arrows  rusted  in  the 
arsenals,  or  hung  glittering  in  vain  display,  made  into 
screens  or  designs  on  the  walls.  The  spears  stood 
useless  on  their  butts  in  the  vestibules,  or  hung  in 
racks  over  the  doors  hooded  in  black  cloth.  The 
match-locks  were  bundled  away  as  curious  relics  of 
war  long  distant,  and  for  ever  passed  away.  The 
rusty  cannon  lay  unmounted  in  the  castle  yards, 
where  the  snakes  and  the  rats  made  nests  and  led 
forth  their  troops  of  young  for  generations. 

Upon  this  scene  of  calm  —  the  calm  of  despotism  — 
broke  the  vision  of  "the  black  ships  at  Uraga. "  At  thisv 
village,  long  noted  for  its  Midzu-ame,  or  rice-honey, 
the  Japanese  were  to  have  their  first  taste  of  modern 
civilization.  Its  name,  given  nine,  perhaps  eleven 
centuries  before,  was  auspicious,  though  they  knew  it 
not.  The  Chinese  characters,  sounded  Ura-ga,  mean 
''Coast  Congratulation."  At  first  a  name  of  fore 
boding,  it  was  to  become  a  word  of  good  cheer ! 

"The  fire-vessels  of  the  western  barbarians  are  com 
ing  to  defile  the  Holy  Country,"  said  priest  and 
soldier  to  each  other  on  the  afternoon  of  the  third 
day  of  the  sixth  month  of  Kayei,  in  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor  Komei.  The  boatman  at  his  sculls  and  the 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

junk  sailor  at  the  tiller  gazed  in  wonder  at  the  painted 
ships  of  the  western  world.  The  farmer,  standing 
knee  deep  in  the  ooze  of  the  rice  fields,  paused  to 
gaze,  wondering  whether  the  barbarians  had  harnessed 
volcanoes.  With  wind  blowing  in  their  teeth  and 
sails  furled,  the  monsters  curled  the  white  foam  at 
their  front,  while  their  black  throats  vomited  sparks 
and  smoke.  To  the  gazers  at  a  distance,  as  they 
looked  from  their  village  on  the  hill  tops,  the  whole 
scene  seemed  a  mirage  created,  according  to  their 
childhood's  belief,  by  the  breath  of  clams.  The  Land  of 
Great  Peace  lay  in  sunny  splendor.  The  glorious 
cone  of  Fuji  capped  with  fleecy  clouds  of  white,  never 
looked  more  lovely.  Even  the  great  American  admiral 
must  surely  admire  the  peerless  mountain.*  The 
soldiers  in  the  fort  on  the  headlands,  obeying  orders, 
would  forbear  to  fire  lest  the  fierce  barbarians  should 
begin  war  at  once.  The  rocket  signal  would  alarm 
great  Yedo.  The  governor  at  Uraga  would  order  the 
foreigners  to  Nagasaki.  Would  they  obey  ?  The 
bluff  whence  the  Morrison  had  been  fired  upon  years 
before,  once  rounded,  would  the  barbarians  proceed 
further  up  the  bay  ?  Suspense  was  short.  The 
great  splashing  of  the  wheels  ceased.  As  the  im 
posing  line  lay  within  an  arrow's  range,  off  the  shore, 
the  rattling  of  the  anchor  chains  was  heard  even  on 


*  A  Japanese  poet  puts  this  stanza  in  the  mouth  of  Perry; 
"  Little  did  I  dream  that  I  should  here,  after  crossing  the  salty 
path,  gaze  upon  the  snow-capped  Fuji  of  this  land." 


FIRE-VESSELS    OF    WESTERN    BARBARIANS.         317 

land.  The  flukes  gripped  bottom  at  the  hour  of  the 
cock  (5  P.  M.) 

The  yakunin  or  public  business  men  of  Uraga  had 
other  work  to  do  that  day  than  to  smoke,  drink  tea, 
lounge  on  their  mats,  or  to  collect  the  customs  from 
junks  bound  to  Yedo.  As  soon  as  the  ships  were 
sighted,  the  bunio,  his  interpreter,  and  satellites, 
donned  their  ceremonial  dress  of  hempen  cloth  and 
their  lacquered  hats  emblazoned  with  the  Tokugawa 
trefoil,  thrust  their  two  swords  in  their  belts,  their 
feet  in  their  sandals,  and  hied  to  the  water's  edge. 
Their  official  barge  propelled  by  twelve  scullsmen  shot 
out  to  the  nearest  vessel.  By  their  orders  a  cordon 
of  boats  provisioned  for  a  stay  on  the  water  was 
drawn  around  the  fleet ;  but  the  crews,  to  their 
surprise  could  not  fasten  their  lines  to  the  ships  nor 
climb  up  on  board.  The  "  hairy  barbarians,"  as  was 
not  the  case  with  previous  visitors,  impolitely  pitched 
off  their  ropes,  and  with  cocked  muskets  and  fixed 
bayonets  really  threatened  to  use  the  ugly  tools  if 
intruders  mounted  by  the  chains.  A  great  many 
iiaru  hodo  (the  equivalent  of  "Well  I  never!"  "Is  it 
possible  ?"  "  Indeed!")  were  ejaculated  in  conse 
quence. 

Mr.  Nakashima  Saburosuke  (or,  in  English,  Mr. 
Middle  Island,  Darling  No.  3)  vice-governor,  and  an 
officer  of  the  seventh  or  eighth  rank,  was  amazed  to 
find  that  even  he,  a  yakunin  and  dressed  in  kami- 
shimo  uniform,  his  boat  flying  the  governor's  pen 
nant,  and  his  bearers  holding  spears  and  the  Toku- 


3l8  MATTHEW    CALBRAITII    PERRY. 

gawa  trefoil  flag,  could  not  get  on  board.  The  i-jin 
(outlanders)  did  not  even  let  down  their  gangway 
ladder,  when  motioned  to  do  so.  This  was  cause 
for  another  official  naru  Jiodo.  The  barbarians 
wished  to  confer  with  the  governor  himself.  Only 
when  told  that  the  law  forbade  that  functionary  from 
boarding  foreign  ships,  did  they  allow  Mr.  Nakashima 
and  his  interpreter  Hori  Tatsunosuke  (Mr.  Conch 
Dragon-darling,)  to  board.  Even  then,  he  was  not 
allowed  to  see  the  grand  high  yakunin  of  the  fleet, 
the  Commodore,  who  was  showing  himself  master  of 
Japanese  tactics. 

Perry  was  playing  Mikado.  The  cabin  was  the 
abode  of  His  High  Mighty  Mysteriousness.  He 
was  for  the  time  being  Kin-rei,  Lord  of  the  Forbid 
den  Interior.  He  was  Tenno,  (son  of  the  skies) 
and  Tycoon  (generalissimo)  rolled  into  one.  His 
Lieutenant  Contee  acted  as  Nai-Dai-Jin,  or  Great  Man 
of  the  Inner  Palace.  A  tenso,  or  middle  man, 
secretary  or  clerk,  carried  messages  to  and  fro  from 
the  cabin,  but  the  child  of  the  gods  with  the  topknot 
and  two  swords  knew  it  not.  Since  the  hermits  of 
Japan  were  not  familiar  the  rank  of  Commodore, 
but  only  of  Admiral,  this  title  came  at  once  and 
henceforth  into  use.  The  old  proverb  concerning 
the  prophet  and  his  honors  abroad  found  new  illus 
tration  in  all  the  negotiations,  and  Perry  enjoyed 
more  fame  at  the  ends  of  the  earth  than  at  home. 

Mr.  Nakashima  Saburosuke  was  told  the  objects 
for  which  the  invisible  Admiral  came.  He  had  been 


FIRE- VESSELS    OF    WESTERN    BARBARIANS.  319 

sent  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  on  a 
friendly  mission.  He  had  a  letter  addressed  to 
"  the  emperor."  He  wished  an  officer  of  proper  rank 
to  be  chosen  to  receive  a  copy,  and  appoint  a  day 
for  the  momentous  act  of  accepting  with  all  the  pomp 
and  ceremony  and  circumstance,  so  august  a  docu 
ment  from  so  mighty  a  ruler,  of  so  great  a  power. 
The  Admiral  would  not  go  to  Nagaski.  With  im 
perturbable  gravity  of  countenance,  but  with  many 
mental  naru  Jiodo,  the  dazed  native  listened.  The 
letter  must  be  received  where  he  then  was. 

Further,  while  the  intentions  of  the  admiral  were 
perfectly  friendly,  he  would  allow  of  no  indignity.  If 
the  guard-boats  Were  not  immediately  removed,  they 
would  be  dispersed  by  force.  Anxious  above  all 
things  to  preserve  peace  with  the  i-jiu  or  barbarians, 
the  functionary  of  Uraga  rose  immediately,  and 
ordered  the  punts,  sampans  and  guard-boats  away. 

This,  the  first  and  master  move  of  the  mysterious 
and  inaccessible  Commodore  in  the  game  of  diplo 
macy,  practiced  with  the  Riu  Kiu  regent  was  re 
peated  in  Yedo  Bay.  The  foiled  yakunin,  clothed 
with  only  a  shred  of  authority,  could  promise  noth 
ing,  and  went  ashore.  There  is  scarcely  a  doubt 
that  he  ate  less  rice  and  fish  that  evening.  Perhaps 
he  left  his  bowl  of  miso  (bean-sauce)  untasted,  his 
sJiini,  (fish  soup)  unsipped.  The  probabilities  ap 
proach  certainty  that  he  smoked  a  double  quota  of 
pipes  of  tobacco.  A  "  hairy  "  barbarian  had  snubbed 
a  yakunin.  Naru  hodo  ! 


32O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Darkness  fell  upon  the  rice  fields  and  thatched 
dwellings.  The  blue  waters  were  spotted  with 
millions  of  white  jelly-fishes  looking  as  though  as 
many  plates  of  white  porcelain  were  floating  sub 
merged  in  a  medium  of  their  own  density.  Within 
the  temples  on  shore,  anxious  congregations  gathered 
to  supplicate  the  gods  to  raise  tempests  of  wind  such 
as  centuries  ago  swept  away  the  Mongol  armada  and 
invaders.  The  "divine  breath"  had  wrought 
wonders  before,  why  not  now  also  ? 

Indoors,  dusty  images  and  holy  pictures  were 
cleansed,  the  household  shrines  renovated,  fresh  oil 
supplied  to  the  lamps,  numerous  candles  provided, 
and  prayers  uttered  such  as  father  and  mother  had 
long  since  ceased  to  offer.  The  gods  were  punish 
ing  the  people  for  neglect  of  their  altars  and  for  their 
wickedness,  by  sending  the  "ugly  barbarians"  to 
destroy  their  "holy  country."  Rockets  were  shot 
up  from  the  forts,  and  alarm  fires  blazed  on  the  head 
lands.  These  were  repeated  on  the  hills,  and  told 
with  almost  telegraphic  rapidity  the  story  of  danger 
far  inland.  The  boom  of  the  temple  bells,  and  the 
sharp  strokes  on  those  of  the  fire-lookouts,  kept  up 
the  ominous  sounds  and  spread  the  news. 

For  several  years  past  unusual  portents  had  been 
seen  in  the  heavens,  but  that  night  a  spectacle  of 
singular  majesty  and  awful  interest  appeared.  At 
midnight  the  whole  sky  was  overspread  with  a  lumin 
ous  blue  and  reddish  tint,  as  though  a  flaming  white 
dragon  were  shedding  floods  of  violet  sulphurous 


FIRE-VESSELS    OF    WESTERN    BARBARIANS.          321 

light  on  land  and  sea.  Lasting  nearly  four  hours,  it 
suffused  the  whole  atmosphere,  and  cast  its  spectral 
glare  upon  the  foreign  ships,  making  hull,  rigging 
and  masts  as  frightfully  bright  as  the  Taira  ghosts  on 
the  sea  of  Nagato.  Men  now  living  remember  that 
awful  night  with  awe,  and  not  a  few  in  their  anxiety 
sat  watching  through  the  hours  of  darkness  until, 
though  the  day  was  breaking,  the  landscape  faded 
from  view  in  the  gathering  mist. 

The  morning  dawned.  The  barbarians  had  re 
mained  tranquil  during  the  night.  The  unhappy 
ytikunin  probably  forgot  the  lie*  he  had  told  the 
day  before,  for  at  7  o'clock  by  the  foreigners'  time, 
the  governor  himself,  Kayama  Yezayemon,  with  his 
satellites  arrived  off  the  flag-ship.  Its  name,  the  SMS- 
queJianna,  struck  their  fancy  pleasantly,  because  the 
sound  resembled  those  of  "bamboo"  (suzuki)  and 
"flower"  (hana).  The  grand  dignitary  of  Uraga  in 
all  the  glory  of  embroidery,  gilt  brocade,  swords,  and 
lacquered  helmet  with  padded  chin  straps,  ascended 
the  gangway  as  if  climbing  to  the  galleries  of  a 
wrestling  show.  Alas,  that  the  barbarians,  who  did 
not  even  hold  their  breath,  should  be  so  little  im 
pressed  by  this  living  museum  of  decorative  art. 
There  was  not  one  of  them  that  fell  upon  his  hands 
and  knees.  Not  one  Jack  Tar  swabbed  the  deck  with 
his  forehead.  Some  secretly  snickered  at  the  bare 

*  "  M —  —  Y —  —  is  at  Shimoda,  and  has  not  forgotten 
the  art  of  lying."  Townsend  Harris  to  Perry,  October  27, 

1857- 


322  MATTHEW     CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

brown  legs  partly  exposed  between  the  petticoat  and 
the  blue  socks.  This  bunio  in  whose  very  name  are 
reflected  the  faded  glories  of  the  old  imperial  palace 
guard  in  medieval  Kioto,  was  accustomed  to  ride  in 
splendid  apparel  on  a  steed  emblazoned  with  crests, 
trappings  and  tassels,  its  mane  in  pompons,  and  its 
tail  encased,  like  an  umbrella,  in  a  silk  bag.  His 
attendant  outwalkers  moved  between  rows  of  prone 
palms  and  faces,  and  of  upturned  top-knots  and 
shining  pates.  Now,  he  felt  ill  at  ease  in  simple 
sandals  on  the  deck  of  a  mighty  ship.  The  "  hairy 
foreigners  "  were  taller  than  he,  notwithstanding  his 
lacquered  helmet.  In  spite  of  silk  trousers,  and 
rank  one  notch  higher  than  the  official  of  yesterday, 
he  was  unable  to  hold  personal  intercourse  with  the 
Lord  of  the  Forbidden  Interior.  The  American 
Tycoon  could  not  be  seen.  The  bunio  met  only  the 
San  Dai  Jin,  Captains  Buchanan  and  Adams,  and 
Lieutenant  Contee.  A  long  discussion  resulted  in 
the  unalterable  declaration  that  the  Admiral 
would  NOT  go  to  Nagasaki.  He  would  not  wait  four 
days  for  an  answer  from  Yedo,  but  only  three.  The 
survey  boats  would  survey  the  waters  of  the  bay. 
"His  Excellency"  (!)  the  bunio  was  shown  the 
varnish  and  key  hole  of  the  magnificent  caskets  con 
taining  the  letters  from  the  great  ruler  of  the  United 
States.  Eve  did  not  eye  the  forbidden  fruit  of  the 
tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  with  more  con 
suming  curiosity,  than  did  that  son  of  an  inquisitive 
race  ogle  the  glittering  mysterious  box.  It  was  not 


FIRE-VESSELS    OF    WESTERN    BARBARIANS  323 

for  him  to  know  the  contents.  He  was  moved  to 
offer  food  and  water.  With  torturing  politeness,  the 
"  hairy  faces  "  declined.  They  had  enough  of  every 
thing.  The  ugly  barbarians  even  demanded  that  the 
same  term  of  respect  should  be  applied  to  their 
President  as  that  given  to  the  great  and  mighty 
figure-head  at  Yedo.  This  came  near  being  a 
genuine  comedy  of  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,  since 
one  of  the  Tycoon's  titles  expressed,  in  English  print 
was  "  O." 

In  spite  of  the  rising  gorge  and  other  choking 
sensations,  the  republican  president  was  dubbed 
Dairi.  The  bunio  of  Uraga  was  told  that  further  dis 
cussion  was  unnescesaary,  until  an  answer  was  re 
ceived.  No  number  of  silent  volleys  of  "  naru  hodo" 
(indeed)  "  tai-Jien "  (hey  yo)  or  " dekinai"  (cannot) 
could  possibly  soothe  the  internal  storm  in  the 
breast  of  the  snubbed  bunio.  He  gathered  himself 
up,  and  with  bows  profound  enough  to  make  a  right 
angle  of  legs  and  body,  and  much  sucking  in  of  the 
breath  adprofundis>  said  his  " sayonara"  (farewell) 
and  went  ashore. 

The  third  day  dawned,  again  to  usher  in  fresh 
anomaly.  The  Americans  would  transact  no  business 
on  this  day!  Why?  It  was  the  Sabbath,  for  rest  and 
worship,  honored  by  the  "  Admiral  "  from  childhood 
in  public  as  well  as  private  life.  "  Dontaku  "  (Sun 
day,)  the  interpreter  told  the  bunio.  With  the  aid 
of  glasses  from  the  bluffs  on  shore,  they  saw  the 
Mississippi's  capstan  wreathed  with  a  flag,  a  big  book 


324  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

laid  thereon,  and  smaller  books  handed  round.  One, 
in  a  gown,  lowered  his  head  ;  all  listening  did  like 
wise.  Then  all  sang,  the  band  lending  its  instrumen 
tal  aid  to  swell  the  volume  of  sound.  The  strains 
floated  shoreward  and  were  heard.  The  music  was 
"Old  Hundred."  The  hymn  was  "Before  Jehovah's 
awful  throne,  Ye  nations  bow  with  sacred  joy."  The 
open  book  on  the  capstan  was  the  Bible.  In  the 
afternoon,  a  visiting  party  of  minor  dignitaries  was 
denied  admittance  to  the  decks  of  the  vessels  ;  nor 
was  this  a  mere  freak  of  Perry's,  but  according  to  a 
habit  and  principle. 

This  was  the  American  rest-day,  and  Almighty 
God  was  here  worshiped  in  sight  of  His  most  glori 
ous  works.  The  Commodore  was  but  carrying  out  a 
habit  formed  at  his  mother's  knee,  and  never  slighted 
at  home  or  abroad.  To  read  daily  the  Bible,  receiv 
ing  it  as  the  word  of  God,  and  to  honor  Him  by 
prayer  and  praise  was  the  chief  part  of  the  "provision 
sufficient  to  sustain  the  mind"  so  often  recommended 
by  him  to  officers  and  men.  "This  was  the  only 
notable  demonstration  which  he  made  before 
landing." 

"  Remarkable  was  this  Sabbath  morning  salutation, 
in  which  an  American  fleet,  with  such  music  as 
those  hillsides  never  re-echoed  before,  chanted  the 
glories  of  Jehovah  before  the  gates  of  a  heathen 
nation.  It  was  a  strange  summons  to  the  Japanese." 
Its  echoes  are  now  heard  in  a  thousand  glens  and  in 
the  cities  of  the  Mikado's  empire.  The  waters  of 


FIRE-VESSELS    OF    WESTERN    BARBARIANS-         325 

Yedo  Bay  have  since  become  a  baptismal  flood. 
Where  cannon  was  cast  to  resist  Perry  now  stands 
the  Imperial  Female  Normal  College.  On  the  treaty 
grounds  rises  the  spire  of  a  Christian  church. 

Meanwhile,  the  erection  of  earth-works  along  the 
strand  and  on  the  bluffs  progressed.  The  farm 
laborers,  the  fishermen,  palanquin-bearers,  pack- 
horse  leaders,  women  and  children  were  impressed 
into  the  work.  With  hoe  and  spade,  and  baskets  of 
rope  matting  slung  from  a  pole  borne  on  the  shoulders 
of  two  men,  or  each  with  divided  load  depending 
scale-wise  from  one  shoulder,  receiving  an  iron  cash 
at  each  passing  of  the  paymaster,  they  toiled  day 
and  night.  Rude  parapets  of  earth  knit  together 
with  grass  were  made  and  pierced  with  embrasures. 
These  were  twice  too  wide  for  unwieldly,  long,  and 
ponderously  heavy  brass  cannon  able  to  throw  a  three 
or  six  pound  ball.  The  troops  were  clad  in  mail  of 
silk,  iron  and  paper,  a  kind  of  war  corset,  for  which 
rifle  balls  have  little  respect.  Their  weapons  were 
match-locks  and  spears.  Their  evolutions  were  those 
of  TaikS's  time,  both  on  drill  and  parade.  Curtained 
camps  sprung  up,  around  which  stretched  impressive 
walls  of  cotton  cloth  etched  by  the  dyer's  mordant 
with  colossal  crests.  These  were  not  to  represent 
"  sham  forts,  of  striped  canvas,"  and  thus  to  frighten 
the  invaders,  as  the  latter  supposed  ;  but,  according 
to  immemorial  custom,  to  denote  military  business, 
and  to  display  either  the  insignia  of  the  great  Sho-gun 
or  the  particular  clan  to  which  a  certain  garrison  or 


326  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH     PERRY. 

detachment  belonged.  The  political  system  headed 
by  the  Tycoon,  had  to  the  Japanese  mind  nothing 
amusing  in  its  name  of  Bakafu  or  Curtain  Govern 
ment,  though  to  the  foreigner,  suggestive  of  Mrs. 
Caudle.  It  had,  however,  a  certain  hostile  savor.  It 
was  a  mild  protest  against  the  camp  over-awing  the 
throne.  It  implied  criticism  of  the  Sho-gun,  and  rev 
erence  to  the  Mikado. 

The  names  and  titles  which  now  desolated  the  air 
and  suffered  phonetic  wreck  in  collision  with  the 
vocal  organs  to  which  they  were  so  strange,  furnish 
not  only  an  interesting  linguistic  study,  but  were  a 
mirror  of  native  history.  The  uncouth  forms  which 
they  took  upon  the  lips  of  the  latest  visiting  foreigners 
are  hardly  worse  in  the  scholar's  eyes,  than  the  de 
viations  which  the  Japanese  themselves  made  from 
the  Aino  aboriginal  or  imported  Chinese  forms.  In 
ks  vocabulary  the  Japanese  is  a  very  mixed  language, 
and  the  majority  of  its  so  called  elegant  terms  of 
speech  is  but  mispronounced  Chinese.  To  the 
Americans,  the  name  of  one  of  the  interpreters 
seemed  "  compounded  of  two  sneezes  and  a  cough,'* 
though  when  analyzed  into  its  component  elements, 
it  reflects  the  changes  in  Japanese  history  as  surely 
as  fossils  in  the  rocks  reveal  the  characteristics  of  by 
gone  geological  ages.  In  the  old  days  of  the  Mikado's 
supremacy,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  law,  when  he  led  his 
troops  in  war,  instead  of  being  exiled  in  a  palace  ;  that 
is,  before  the  thirteenth  century,  both  military  and 
civil  titles  had  a  meaning.  Names  had  a  reality  be- 


FIRE-VESSELS    OF    WESTERN    BARBARIANS.  327 

hind  them,  and  were  symbols  of  a  fact.  A  man  with 
kami  (lord)  after  his  name  was  an  actual  governor  of 
a  province;  one  with  mon  terminating  his  patronymic 
was  a  member  of  the  imperial  guard,  a  soldier  or 
sentinel  at  the  Say 4  mon  (left  gate)  or  Uy^  mon  (right 
gate,)  of  the  palace  ;  a  Hei  was  a  real  soldier  with  a 
sword  or  arrow,  spear  or  armor.  A  suke  or  a.  jo  a  maro 
or  a  ///;///,  a  kamon  or  a  tono  was  a  real  deputy  or 
superior,  a  prince  or  princess,  a  palace  functionary 
or  a  palace  occupant  of  imperial  blood.  All  this  was 
changed  when,  in  the  twelfth  century,  the  authority 
was  divided  into  civil  and  military,  and  two  capitals 
and  centers  of  government,  typified  by  the  Throne 
and  the  Camp,  sprang  up.  The  Mikado  kept  his  seat, 
the  prestige  of  antiquity  and  divinity,  and  the  fountain 
of  authority  at  Kioto,  while  the  Sho-gun  or  usurping 
general  held  the  purse  and  the  sword  at  Kamakura. 
Gradually  the  Sho-gun  (army-commander,  general) 
usurped  more  and  more  power,  claiming  it  as  neces 
sary,  and  invariably  obtaining  new  leases  of  power 
until  little  was  left  to  the  Mikado  but  the  shadow  of 
authority.  The  title  of  Tai-kun  ("Tycoon")  meaning 
Great  Prince,  and  the  equivalent  of  a  former  title  of 
the  Mikado  was  assumed.  Next  the  military  rulers  at 
at  Kamakura,  from  the  twelfth  to  the  sixteenth 
century  and  in  Yedo  from  the  seventeenth  century, 
controlled  the  appointments  of  their  nominees 
to  office,  and  even  compelled  the  Emperor  to 
make  certain  of  them  hereditary  in  elect  families. 
The  multitude  of  imperial  titles,  once  carrying  with 


328  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

their  conferment  actual  duties  and  incomes,  and  theo 
retically  functional  in  Kioto  became,  as  reality  de 
cayed,  in  the  higher  grades  empty  honorifics  of  the 
Tycoon's  minions,  and  in  the  lower  were  degraded  to 
ordinary  personal  names  of  the  agricultural  gentry  or 
even  common  people.  What  was  once  an  actual  official 
title  sunk  to  be  a  mere  final  syllable  in  a  name. 

The  writer,  when  a  resident  in  the  Mikado's  empire, 
was  accustomed  to  address  persons  with  most  lofty, 
grandiloquent,  and  high  flown  names,  titles  and  deco 
rative  patronymics,  in  which  the  glories  of  decayed 
imperialism  and  medieval  history  were  reflected. 
His  cook  was  an  Imperial  Guardsman  of  the  Left,  his 
stable  boy  was  a  Regent  of  the  University,  while  not 
a  few  servants,  mechanics,  field  hands  and  manure 
carriers,  were  Lords  of  the  Chamber,  Promoters  of 
Learning,  Superintendents  of  the  Palace  Gardens,  or 
various  high  functionaries  with  salary  and  office. 
Just  as  the  decayed  mythology  and  far  off  history  of 
the  classic  nations  furnished  names  for  the  slaves  in 
Carolina  cotton  fields,  in  the  days  when  Lempriere 
was  consulted  for  the  christening  of  newly  born  negro 
babies,  so,  the  names  borne  by  thousands  of  Japanese 
to-day  afford  to  the  foreign  analyst  of  words  and  to 
the  native  scholar  both  amusement  and  reflection. 
To  the  Americans  on  Perry's  fleet  they  furnished 
endless  jest  as  phonetic  and  linguistic  curosities. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

PANIC  IN  YEDO.   RECEPTION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT'S 
LETTER. 

OPENING  upon  the  beautiful  bay  (ye),  like  a  door 
(do),  the  great  city  in  the  Kuanto,  or  Broad  East  of 
Japan,  was  well-named  Bay-door,  or  Yedo.  Founded 
as  a  military  stronghold  tributary  to  the  Sho-gun  at 
Kamakura  in  the  fourteenth  century,  by  Ota  Do 
Kuan,  it  was  made  in  1603  the  seat  °f  tne  govern 
ment  by  lyeyasii.  This  man,  mighty  both  in  war 
and  in  peace,  and  probably  Japan's  greatest  states 
man,  made  the  little  village  a  mighty  city,  and 
founded  the  line  of  Sho-guns  of  the  Tokugawa 
family,  which  ruled  in  the  person  of  fifteen  Tycoons 
until  1868.  To  the  twelfth  of  the  line  lyeyoshi, 
President  Fillmore's  letter  was  to  be  delivered,  and 
with  the  thirteenth,  lyesada,  the  American  treaty 
made.  The  Americans  dubbed  ea,ch  "Emperor"  ! 

Yedo's  chief  history  and  glory  are  associated  with 
the  fortunes  of  the  Tokugawas.  It  had  reached  the 
zenith  of  its  greatness  when  Perry's  ships  entered 
the  bay.  Its  palaces,  castles,  temples,  and  towers 
were  then  in  splendor  never  attained  before  or  be 
held  in  Japan  since.  It  was  the  centre  of  wealth, 
learning,  art  and  gay  life.  Its  population  numbered 


330  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

one  million   two   hundred  thousand   souls,   of  whom 
were  five  hundred  thousand  of  the  military  class. 

Upon  this  mass  of  humanity  the  effect  of  the  news 
of  "black   ships"   at   their  very  doors  was  startling. 
All  Yedo  was  soon  in  a  frightful  state  of  commotion, 
With  alarmed  faces  the  people  thronged  to  the  shrines 
to  pray,  or  hastily  packed  their  valuables,  to   bury  or 
send  off  to  the   houses   of   distant  friends.       In   the 
southern  suburbs  thousands  of  houses  were  emptiec. 
of  their  contents  and  of  the  sick   and  aged.     Many 
who  could,  left    their   homes   to  go   and  dwell   with 
relatives  in  the  country.     Couriers  on  horseback  had 
first  brought  details  of  the  news  by  land.     Junks  and 
scull-boats  from  Uraga  arrived  hourly  at   Shinagawa, 
and   foot-runners  bearing  dispatches   panted    in    the 
government  offices.      They  gave   full  descriptions  of 
what  had  been  said  and  done,  the  number,  shape  and 
size  of   the   vessels,   and   in   addition   to   verbal  and 
written    statements,    showed  drawings  of    the  black 
ships  and  of  the  small  boats  manned  by  the  sailors. 
It  was  no  clam's-breath  mirage  this  time.     The  rumor 
so  often  pooh-poohed  had  turned  to  reality.* 

The  samurai  went  to  their  kura    (fire  proof  store- 

*  Ota  Do  Kuan  the  founder  of  Yedo  (Gate  of  the  Bay)  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  wrote  in  the  summer-house  of  his  castle 
a  poem,  said  to  have  been  extant  in  185-1,  and  to  nave  been 
pointed  out  as  fulfilled  by  Perry: 

"To  my  gate  ships  will  come  from  the  far  East, 
Ten  thousand  miles." 

— Dixon's  Japan,  p.  218. 


RECEPTION  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS  LETTER   33! 

houses)  and  unpacked  their  armor  to  repair  and 
furbish,  and  to  see  if  they  could  breathe,  as  they  cer 
tainly  could  perspire  in  it,  and  brandish  a  sword  with 
both  hands,  when  fully  laced  up.  They  scoured  the 
rust  off  their  spears,  whetted  and  feathered  their 
arrows,  and  restrapped  their  quivers  upon  which 
the  moths  had  long  feasted.  The  women  re- 
hemmed  or  ironed  out  flags  and  pennants.  Intense 
activity  prevailed  on  the  drill  grounds  and  match 
lock  ranges.  New  earth-banks  for  targets  were 
erected.  Vast  quantities  of  powder  were  burned  in 
practice.  It  was  the  harvest  time  of  -  the  priests, 
the  armorers,  the  sword-makers,  and  the  manufac 
turers  of  oiled  paper  coats,  leggings,  hats  and  san 
dals,  so1  much  needed  in  that  rainy  climate  during 
camp-life.  The  drug  business  boomed  with  activity, 
for  the  hastily  gathered  and  unseasoned  soldiers 
lying  under  arms  in  camp  suffered  from  all  sorts  of 
maladies  arising  from  exposure. 

Hokusai,  whose  merciless  caricatures  of  carpet 
soldiers  once  made  all  Japan  laugh,  and  who  had  died 
four  years  before  with  the  snows  of  nearly  ninety 
years  upon  his  head,  was  not  th-ere  to  see  the  fun. 
His  pupils,  however,  put  the  humor  of  the  situation 
on  paper ;  and  caricatures,  lampoons  and  jokes 
directed  against  these  sons  of  luxury  in  camp  were 
numerous,  and  after  the  departure  of  the  ships  they 
found  ready  sale. 

One  enterprising  merchant  and  ship  owner  in 
Yedo  had,  months  before  Perry  arrived,  made  a 


332  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

fortune  by  speculating  in  oiled  paper,  buying  up  all 
he  could  lay  his  hands  upon,  making  water-proof 
garments  and  selling  at  high  prices.  Indiscreetly 
exulting  over  his  doings,  he  gave  a  feast  to  his  many 
friends  whom  his  sudden  wealth  had  made.  The 
two  proverbs  "In  vino  veritas"  and  "Wine  in, 
wit  out,"  kissed  each  other.  Over  his  merry  cups 
he  declared  that  "  the  vessels  of  the  barbarians"  had 
been  "  the  treasure-ships  of  the  seven  gods  of  happi 
ness  "  to  him.  The  authorities  got  wind  of  the 
boast,  and  clapped  the  unlucky  wight  in  prison.  He 
was  charged  with  secretly  trading  with  foreign 
countries.  His  riches  took  wings  and  flew  into  the 
pockets  of  the  yakunin  and  the  informer.  While 
the  American  ships  were  at  Napa  he  was  beheaded. 
His  fate  sobered  other  adventurous  spirits,  but  did 
not  injure  business. 

The  book-sellers  and  picture-shop  keepers,  who 
had  sent  artists  down  to  Uraga,  also  coined  kobans 
by  selling  "brocade  pictures"  or  broadsides  bedizened 
with  illustrations  in  color,  of  the  floating  monsters 
and  the  tall  man  of  strange  garb,  speech,  tonsure, 
hirsute  fashion,  and  shape  of  eyes.  Fans,  gaily 
colored  and  depicting  by  text  and  drawing  the 
wonders  that  now  thrilled  the  nation,  were  sent  into 
the  interior  and  sold  by  thousands.  The  governor 
was  compelled  to  issue  proclamations  to  calm  the 
public  alarm. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  castle,  the  daimios  were  ac 
quainted  with  the  nature  of  the  despatches  and  the 


RECEPTION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  S  LETTER   333 

object  of  the  American  envoy.  Discussion  was  in 
vited,  but  there  was  nothing  to  be  said.  Innumer 
able  pipes  were  smoked.  Long  hours  were  spent  on 
the  mats  in  sedentary  recumbence  on  knees  and 
heels.  Uncounted  cups  of  tea  were  swilled.  In 
credible  indignation,  impotent  wrath  and  contempt 
were  poured  upon  the  ugly  barbarians,  but  still  an 
answer  to  the  unanswered  question,  "  what  was  to 
be  done  ? "  could  not  be  deferred.  This  was  the 
problem. 

They  must  first  lie  to  the  foreigners  and  make 
them  believe  that  the  Sho-gun  was  a  Tai-kun  and 
had  imperial  power.  This  done,  they  would  then 
have  the  chronic  task  of  articulating  lie  after  lie  to 
conceal  from  prying  eyes  the  truth  that  the  Yedo 
government  was  a  counterfeit  and  subordinate.  The 
Soh-gtm  was  no  emperor  at  all,  and  what  would  they 
do  if  the  hairy  devils  should  take  a  notion  to  go  to 
Kioto  ?  They  could  not  resist  the  big  ships  and 
men,  and  yet  they  knew  not  what  demands  the 
greedy  aliens  would  make.  They  had  no  splendid 
war-vessels  as  in  Taiko's  time,  when  the  keels  of 
Japan  ploughed  every  sea  in  Asia  and  carried  visitors 
to  Mexico,  to  India,  to  the  Phillipines.  No  more,  as 
in  centuries  ago,  were  their  sailors  the  Northmen  of 
the  sea,  able  to  make  even  the  coasts  of  China  and 
Corea  desolate,  and  able  to  hurl  back  the  Mongol 
armada  of  Kubhlai  Khan.  Then  should  the  Ameri 
cans  land,  and,  by  dwelling  in  it,  defile  the  Holy 
Country,  the  strain  upon  the  government  to  keep 


334  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

the  foreigners  within  bounds  and  to  hold  in  the 
Yedo  cage  the  turbulent  claim  ios  would  be  too  great. 
Already  many  of  the  vassals  of  Tokugawa  were  in 
incipient  rebellion.  If  Japan  were  opened,  they 
would  have  a  pretext  for  revolt,  and  would  obey  only 
the  imperial  court  in  Kioto.  The  very  existence  of 
the  Tokugawa  family  would  then  be  jeoparded.  If 
they  made  a  treaty,  the  "  mikado-reverencers"  would 
defy  the  compact,  since  they  knew  that  the  Tycoon 
was  only  a  daimio  of  low  rank  with  no  right  to  sign. 
In  vain  had  the  official  censors  purged  the  writings 
of  historical  scholars.  Political  truth  was  leaking  out 
fast,  and  men's  eyes  were  being  opened.  In  vain 
were  the  prisons  taxed  to  hold  in  the  whisperers,  the 
thinkers,  the  map-makers,  the  men  who  believed  the 
country  had  fallen  behind,  and  that  only  the  Mikado 
restored  to  ancient  authority  could  effect  improve 
ment. 

Finally,  two  claim  ios  were  appointed  to  receive  the 
letter.  Orders  were  given  to  the  clans  and  coast 
daimios  to  guard  the  most  important  strategic  posi 
tions  fronting  the  bay  of  Yedo,  lest  the  foreigners 
should  proceed  to  acts  of  violence.  Several  thou 
sands  of  troops  were  despatched  in  junks  to  the 
earth  forts  along  the  bay  of  Yedo. 

Meanwhile  Perry,  the  Lord  of  the  Forbidden  In 
terior,  had  allowed  no  Japanese  to  gaze  upon  his 
face.  The  bunio  had  held  several  consultations  with 
the  Admiral's  subordinates,  had  been  shown  the 
ship  and  appointments,  and  had  tasted  the  strangers' 


RECEPTION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  S  LETTER.   335 

diet.  The  barbarian  pudding  was  delicious.  The 
liquors  were  superb.  One  glass  of  sugared  brandy 
made  the  whole  western  world  kin.  The  icy  armor 
of  reserve  was  shuffled  off.  The  august  functionary 
became  jolly.  "  Naruhodo"  and  "  tai-hen"  dropped 
from  his  lips  like  minted  coins  from  a  die.  So 
happy  and  joyful  was  he,  that  he  forgot,  while  his 
veins  were  warm,  that  he  had  not  gained  a  single 
point,  while  the  invisible  Admiral  had  won  all. 

A  conference  was  arranged  to  be  held  at  Kuri- 
hama  (long-league  strand),  a  hamlet  between  Morri 
son  Bluff  and  Uraga  for  July  I3th.  The  minutest 
details  of  etiquette  were  settled.  The  knowing  sub 
ordinates,  inspired  by  His  Inaccessibility  in  the 
cabin,  solemnly  weighed  every  feather-shred  of 
punctilio  as  in  the  balances  of  the  universe.  In 
humiliation  and  abasement,  Mr.  Yezayemon  regretted 
that  upholstered  arm-chairs  and  wines  and  brandies 
could  not  be  furnished  their  guests  on  the  morrow. 
It  was  no  matter.  The  "Admiral "  would  sit  like 
the  dignitaries  from  Yedo  ;  but,  as  it  ill  befitted  his 
Mysterious  Augustness  to  be  pulled  very  far  in  a 
small  boat,  he  would  proceed  in  the  steamers  to  a 
point  opposite  the  house  of  deliberation  within 
range  of  his  Paixhans.  He  would  land  with  a 
proper  retinue  of  officers  and  soldiers.  Possibly  a 
Golownin  mishap  might  occur,  and  the  Admiral 
wished  to  do  nothing  disagreeable.  Even  if  the 
government  was  perfectly  sincere  in  intentions,  the 
swiftness  of  Japanese  assassins  was  proverbial,  and 
the  ro-nin  (wave-man)  was  ubiquitous. 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

The  day  before,  sawyers  had  been  busy,  boards 
and  posts  hauled,  and  all  night  long  the  carpenters 
sent  down  from  Yedo  plied  chisel  and  mallet, 
hooked  adze  and  saw.  Mat  sewers  and  binders, 
satin  curtain  hangers,  and  official  canvas-spreaders 
were  busy  as  bees.  Finally  the  last  parallelogram 
of  straw  was  laid,  the  last  screen  arranged,  the  last 
silk  curtain  hung.  The  retainers  of  Toda,  Idzu 
no  kami,  the  hatamoto,  with  all  his  ancestral  insig 
nia  of  crests,  scarlet  pennants,  spears,  banners, 
lanterns,  umbrellas,  and  feudalistic  trumpery  were 
present.  The  followers  of  Ito  were  there  too,  in 
lesser  numbers.  For  hundreds  of  yards  stretched 
canvas  imprinted  with  the  Tokugawa  blazon,  a 
trefoil  of  Asarum  leaves.  On  the  beach  stood  the 
armed  soldiers  of  several  clans,  while  the  still  waters 
glittering  in  the  beams  of  the  unclouded  sun  were  gay 
with  boats  and  fluttering  pennants. 

In  the  matter  of  shine  and  dazzle  the  Japanese 
were  actually  outdone  by  the  Americans. 

The  barbarian  officers  had  curious  looking  golden 
adornments  on  their  shoulders,  and  pieces  of  metal 
called  "  buttons"  on  the  front  of  their  coats.  What 
passed  the  comprehension  of  the  spectators,  was  that 
the  same  curious  ornaments  were  found  at  the  back  of 
their  coats  below  the  hips.  Why  did  they  wear  but 
tons  behind  ?  Instead  of  grand  and  imposing  hakama 
(petticoat  trousers)  and  flowing  sleeves,  they  had  on 
tight  blue  garments.  As  the  sailors  rowed  in  utterly 
different  style  from  the  natives,  sitting  back  to  the 


RECEPTION    OF    THE    PRESIDENT'S    LETTER.        337 

shore  as  they  pulled,  they  presented  a  strange  spec 
tacle.  They  made  almost  deafening  and  hideous 
noises  with  brass  tubes  and  drums,  with  which  they 
seemed  pleased.  The  native  scullers  could  have 
beaten  the  foreign  rowers  had  the  trial  been  one  of 
skill.  The  Uraga  yakunin  and  Captain  Buchanan 
led  the  van  of  boats.  When  half  way  to  the  shore, 
thirteen  red  tongues  flamed  out  like  dragons,  and 
thirteen  clouds  of  smoke  like  the  breath  of  the  mount 
ain  gods,  leaped  out  of  the  throats  of  the  barbarian 
guns. 

Then,  and  then  only,  the  High,  Grand,  and  Mighty, 
Invisible  and  Mysterious,  Chief  Barbarian,  represent 
ative  of  the  august  potentate  in  America,  who  had 
thus  far  augustly  kept  himself  behind  the  curtain  in 
secrecy,  revealed  himself  and  stepped  into  his  barge. 
The  whole  line  then  moved  to  the  beach.  A  few 
minutes  later  there  were  a  thousand  scowls  and  curses, 
and  clinching  of  fingers  on  sword-hilts,  and  vows  of 
revenge,  as  the  soil  of  the  holy  country  was  de 
filed  by  the  first  barbarian,  Buchanan,  who  sprang 
ashore  on  the  jetty  hastily  made  of  straw  rice  bags 
filled  with  sand. 

Many  a  countryman  in  the  crowds  of  spectators 
on  the  hills  around,  as  he  saw  the  three  hundred 
sailors,  mariners,  bandsmen  and  officers,  went  home 
to  tell  his  fellow-villagers  of  foreigners  ten  feet  in 
stature,  as  hairy  in  face  as  dogs,  with  polls  on  their 
crown  as  red  as' the  shojo  (or  scarlet-headed  demons), 
and  of  ships  as  big  as  mountains,  having  guns 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 


that  made  heaven  and  earth  crash  together  when 
they  were  fired.  The  numbers  as  reported  in  the 
distant  provinces  ran  into  myriads. 

There  was  no  one  that  gazed  more  upon  Com 
modore  Perry  than  Kazama  Yezayemon.  He,  the 
snubbed  bunio,  had  waited  through  the  minutes  of 
the  hours  of  five  days  to  see  the  mighty  personage. 
With  vast  officiousness  he  now  led  the  way  to  the 
pavilion.  Two  gigantic  tars  carried  the  American 
flag,  and  two  boys  the  mysterious  red  box  whose 
outside  Kazama  had  seen.  Of  majestic  mien  and 
portly  form,  tall,  proud  and  stately,  but  not  hairy 
faced,  "  big  as  a  wrestler,  dignified  as  a  kuge,"  (court 
noble)  the  august  Commodore,  already  victor,  ad 
vanced  forward.  On  either  side  as  his  guard,  stalked 
a  colossal  kuntmbo  (black  man)  armed  to  the  teeth. 
This  sable  pair,  guarding  the  burly  Commodore,  like 
the  Ni  O  (two  kings)  of  a  temple  portal,  constituted 
one  of  the  greatest  curiosities  of  the  pageant.  Many 
in  the  gazing  crowds  had  never  seen  a  white  man  ; 
but  probably  not  one  had  ever  looked  upon  a  human 
being  whose  whole  skin  was  as  black  as  the  eyes  of 
Fudo.  Only  in  the  theatre,  when  they  had  seen  the 
candle-holders  with  faces  smeared  with  lamp  black, 
had  they  ever  beheld  aught  like  what  now  smote 
their  eyes. 

The  procession  entered  the  pavilion  with  clue 
pomp.  The  Japanese  officials  were  all  dressed  in 
kami-shimo  (high  and  low)  or  ceremonial  winged 
dress  of  gold  brocade.  Toda,  Idzu  no  kami,  and  Ito, 


RECEPTION    OF    THE    PRESIDENT  S    LETTER.        339 

Iwami  no  kami,  the  two  commissioners,  sat  on  camp- 
stools.  When  all  was  ready,  the  two  boys  advanced 
and  delivered  their  charge  to  the  blacks.  These, 
opening  in  succession  the  scarlet  cloth  envelope  and 
the  gold-hinged  rosewood  boxes,  with  true  African 
grace,  displayed  the  letter  written  on  vellum  bound 
in  blue  velvet,  and  the  gold  tasseled  seals  suspended 
with  silk  thread.  In  perfect  silence,  they  laid  the 
documents  on  the  lacquered  box  brought  from  Yedo. 
It  was  like  Guanzan  handling  the  sacred  books. 

"  The  First  Counsellor  of  the  Empire,"  as  the 
Americans  called  Toda,  acknowledged  in  perfect 
silence  receipt  of  the  documents.  The  interpreter 
who  had  been  authorized  by  the  "Emperor" — accord 
ing  to  the  foreigners'  ideas  —  handed  the  receipt  to  the 
Commodore,  who  sat  during  the  ceremony.  What 
little  was  spoken  was  in  Dutch,  chiefly  between  Perry 
and  the  interpreters.  The  whole  affair  was  like  a 
"Quaker"  meeting  of  the  traditional  sort.  The  offi 
cial  reply  read  : — 

"  The  letter  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
of  North  America  and  copy  are  hereby  received  and 
delivered  to  the  Emperor.  Many  times  it  has  been 
communicated  that  business  relating  to  foreign 
countries  cannot  be  transacted  here  in  Uraga,  but  in 
Nagasaki.  Now  it  has  been  observed  that  the  Ad 
miral  in  his  quality  of  embassador  of  the  President 
would  be  insulted  by  it  ;  the  justice  of  this  has  been 
acknowledged,  consequently  the  above  mentioned 
letter  is  hereby  received  in  opposition  to  the  Japan- 


34O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

ese  law.  Because  this  place  is  not  designed  to  treat 
of  anything  from  foreigners,  so  neither  can  confer 
ence  nor  entertainment  take  place.  The  letter  being 
received,  you  will  leave  here." 

The  Commodore  then  gave  notice  that  he  would 
return  "  in  the  approaching  spring,  probably  in 
April  or  May."  This  concluded  the  ceremonies  of 
reception,  which  lasted  half  an  hour.  With  all  due 
care  and  pomp  the  Americans  returned  to  their  decks. 
That  part  of  the  Bay  of  Yedo  fronting  Kurihama 
was  named  "Reception  Bay,"  as  a  certain  headland 
was  dubbed  by  Perry  himself  Rubicon  Point. 

The  "black  ships"  remained  in  the  bay  eight  days. 
Their  boats  were  busily  employed  in  surveying  the 
waters.  Perry  kept  his  men  on  ship's  food,  holding 
then  all  in  leash,  allowing  no  insults  to  the  people, 
receiving  no  gifts.  In  no  instance  was  any  Japanese 
molested  or  injured.  The  Americans  burned  no 
houses,  stole  no  valuables,  outraged  no  women, 
None  was  drunk.  Not  a  single  native  was  kicked, 
beaten,  insulted  or  robbed.  One  party  landed,  and 
actually  showed  a  politeness  that  impelled  the  people 
to  set  out  refreshments  of  water,  tea  and  peaches. 
These  "  hairy  "  Americans  were  so  kind  and  polite 
that  they  smoked  friendly  pipes,  showed  the  peo 
ple  their  trinkets  and  watches,  and  even  patiently 
explained,  in  strange  and  unintelligible  language, 
but  with  pantomimic  gesture,  the  uses  of  many 
things  which  drew  forth  volleys  of  naru  Jiodo ! 
Itrei!  rippani !  mtdzurashi!  so  de'su,  ne !  and  many 


RECEPTION  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS  LETTER.   34! 

a  characteristic  grimace,  shrug  and  mutual  nod  from 
the  light-hearted  and  impressible  people. 

All  this  was  strange  and,  unlooked-for.  This 
was  not  the  way  the  Russians  in  Saghalin,  nor 
the  British  sailors  at  Nagasaki,  had  acted.  The 
people  began  to  think  that  probably  the  foreigners 
were  not  devils,  but  men  after  all.  Eyes  were 
opened  on  both  sides. 

More  than  one  American  made  up  his  mind  that 
the  Japanese  were  not  so  treacherous,  murderous,  or 
inhospitable  as  they  had  heard.  The  natives  began 
to  believe  that  if  the  "hairy  faces"  were  devils,  they 
were  of  an  uncommonly  fine  species,  in  short  as  jolly 
as  tcngus  or  spirits  of  the  sky.  Strangely  enough, 
the  "hairy"  foreigners  were  clean  shaven. 

One  authentic  anecdote  related  by  the  Japanese 
is  worth  mentioning.  At  the  banquet  given  by  the 
governor  of  Uraga,  Perry  tasted  the  sake  served  so 
plentifully  at  all  entertainments,  and  asked  what 
the  cost  or  price  of  the  beverage  might  be.  On 
being  told,  finding  it  exceedingly  cheap,  the  Com 
modore  with  a  very  serious  face  remarked  to  his 
host  that  he  feared  it  was  highly  injurious  to  the 
people  to  have  so  ridiculously  cheap  an  intoxicant 
produced  in  the  country.  All  present  were  deeply 
impressed  with  the  Commodore's  remark. 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  decoction  of  fermented 
rice,  called  sake,  which  contains  alcohol  enough  to 
easily  intoxicate,  and  fusel  oil  sufficient  to  quickly 
madden,  was  not  relatively  as  cheap  as  Perry  sup- 


342  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

posed,    yet    Japan's    curse    for  centuries     has    been 
cheap  liquor. 

Another  anecdote,  less  trustworthy,  is  preserved 
in  a  native  book.  The  time  suits  Shimoda,  but 
other  considerations  point  to  Uraga  or  Yokohama. 
The  subjective  element,  probably  predominates  over 
historical  fact.  Some  enemy  of  Buddhism  or  its 
priests,  some  wit  fond  of  sharp  barbs,  from  a  Shinto 
quiver,  probably,  manufactured  the  story,  which  runs 
as  follows  :  — 

"  When  Perry  came  to  Shimoda,  he  took  a  ramble 
through  the  town,  and  happened  to  enter  a  mon 
astery  yard.  It  was  in  summer,  and  two  bonzes 
were  taking  a  nap.  Of  course  they  were  shaved  as 
to  their  heads,  and  their  bodies  were  more  than  half 
uncovered.  At  first  glance,  Perry  thought  that  these 
shaven-pated  and  nude  savages  were  in  an  unseemly 
act.  '  This  is  a  savage  land',  he  said  ;  and  until  he 
saw  and  talked  with  the  better  representatives  of 
Japan,  he  was  of  a  mind  to  treat  the  Japanese  as  he 
would  the  lowest  African  tribes." 

Without  a  yard  of  canvas  spread,  the  four  ships 
moved  rapidly  out  of  the  Bay  on  the  morning  of 
March  i/th.  The  promontory  of  Uraga  was  black 
with  spectators  who  watched  that  stately  procession 
whose  motor  was  the  child  born  of  wedded  fire  and 
water. 

Japan  now  gave  herself  up  to  reflection. 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

JAPANESE    PREPARATIONS    FOR    TREATY-MAKING. 

THE  Mississippi  touching  at  Napa,  found  there  the 
Supply ',  and  met  the  Vandalia  on  the  way  to  Hong 
Hong,  where  the  Commodore  arrived  on  the  /th  of 
August.  The  Powhatan  returned  from  a  futile  visit 
to  Riu  Kiu  on  the  25th.  To  protect  American  lives 
and  property  against  the  imminent  dangers  of  the 
Tai-ping  rebellion,  the  Supply  was  sent  to  Canton 
and  the  Mississippi  anchored  off  Whampoa.  The  re 
mainder  of  the  squadron  was  ordered  to  Cum-sing- 
moon,  between  Macao  and  Hong  Kong,  where  the 
machinery  which  sadly  needed  repair  was  refitted. 

Having  thus  disposed  of  his  force,  the  Commodore, 
in  order  to  arrange  the  accumulated  results  of  his 
voyage  to  Japan,  took  a  house  at  Macao  for  his  own 
accommodation  and  that  of  the  artists  and  surveying 
party.  A  hospital,  which  was  also  established  in  the 
town,  under  the  care  of  the  fleet  surgeon,  was  soon 
full  of  fever  patients  ;  and  an  annex,  in  the  form  of  a 
cemetery,  was  found  necessary.  The  Japan  expedi 
tion  left  American  graves  at  Macao,  Napa,  Uraga, 
Yokohama,  Shimoda,  and  Hakodate.  Among  the 
officers  lost,  was  Lieutenant  John  Matthews  drowned 


344  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

at  the  Benin  islands.  His  name  was  given  by  Perry 
to  a  bay  near  Napa,  which  he  surveyed.  His  monu 
ment  in  Vale  Cemetery  at  Schenectady,  N.  Y.  was 
erected  by  his  fellow-officers  of  the  Asiatic  Squadron. 

The  Commodore  himself,  worn  out  by  heavy  and 
multifarious  duties,  was  finally  prostrated  by  an  at 
tack  of  illness.  Nevertheless  the  work  of  the  expe 
dition  suffered  no  remission.  The  making  of  charts, 
and  the  completion  of  nearly  two-hundred  sketches 
and  drawings,  and  the  arrangement  and  testing  of 
the  scientific  apparatus  which  was  to  be  proved 
before  the  Japanese,  were  perfected.  The  daguerreo 
type,  talbotype,  and  magnetic  telegraphic  apparatus 
were  especially  kept  in  working  order.  The  Jjirjanese 
from  the  first,  as  it  proved,  were  mightily  impressed 
by  these  "spirit  pictures,"  into  which  as  they  be 
lieved,  went  emitted  particles  of  their  actual  souls. 

The  length  en  ejl_sj:ay  of  the  Commodore  at  JVlacao 
enabled  him  to  see  the  places  of  interest  and  to 
study  life  in  this  old  city,  once  so  prosperous ;  whence 
had  sailed,  three  centuries  before,  in  the  Portuguese 
galleons  explorers,  traffickers  and  missionaries  to 
Japan.  The  opulent  American  merchants  of  Canton 
made  Macao  their  place  of  summer  sojourn,  so  that 
elegant  society  was  not  lacking.  With  the  French 
commodore,  Montravel,  whose  fleet  lay  at  anchor  in 
the  roadstead,  and  with  Portuguese  whom  he  had 
met  in  Africa,  his  intercourse  was  especially  pleasant. 
It  had  been  the  intention  of  the  Commodore  to  wait 
until  spring  before  sailing  north,  but  the  suspicious 


JAPANESE    TREATY-MAKING.  345 

movements  of  the  French  and  Russians,  spoken  of 
below,  induced  him  to  alter  his  plans. 

Towards  the  end  of  November,  the  French_naval 
commander  suddenly  left  port  under  sealed  orders.  v 
About  the  same  time  the  Russian  Admiral  Pontia- 
tine  in  the  Pallas  and  with  three  other  vessels  lay  at 
Shanghai,  having  returned  from  Nagasaki.  Suspect- 
ingThat  either  or  both  the  Russians  and  French  con 
templated  a  visit  to  Yedo  Bay,  Perry  became  very 
anxious  for  the  arrival  of  the  Lexington,  which  had 
more  presents  for  the  Japanese  on  board.  Rather 
than  allow  others  to  get  advantage  and  reap  where 
he  had  sown,  before  he  himself  had  thrust  in  the 
sickle,  Perry  resolved  to  risk  the  exposure  and  incon 
venience  of  a  mid-winter  cruise  to  Japan,  despite  the 
stories  told  of  fogs  and  storms  on  the  Japanese  coast. 
The  dangers  of  a  winter  sea-journey  between  the  two 
countries  are  portrayed,  even  in  very  ancient  Chinese 
poetry. 

The  object  of  the  American  mission  had  been  re 
ported  at  Kioto,  where  it  created  a  profound  impres 
sion  and  intense  excitement.  The  first  thing  done, 
and  that  within  four  days  after  Perry  left,  was  to 
despatch  a  messenger  to  the  Shinto  priests  at  the 
shrines  of  Ise  to  offer  up  prayers  for  the  peace  of  the  , 
Empire,  and  for  the  divine  breath  to  sweep  away  "the 
barbarians."  One  week  later,  the  Sho-gun  lye'yoshi 
died.  He  was  buried  in  Shiba  in  Yedo  in  a  superb 
mausoleum  among  his  ancestors,  but  not  until  the 
7th  of  September. 


346  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

At  Yedo,  the  question  of  acceeding  to  the  demand 
of  the  barbarians  was  hotly  debated.  The  daimios 
"  nearly  lost  their  hearts  in  consultation  that  lasted 
day  and  night."  The  Prince  of  Mito  wanted  to 
fight  them.  "The  officials  knew  it  would  be  mad 
ness  to  resist  an  enemy  with  myriads  of  men-of-war 
who  could  capture  all  their  junks  and  blockade  their 
coasts."  The  Sho-gun's  minister  was  Abe,  Ise  no 
Kami,  the  daimio  of  Bizen,  who  had  marriecFThe 
adopted  daughter  of  Echizen.  He  it  was  who  in 
spired  the  arguments  of  the  government.  He  be 
lieved  that  as  Japan  was  behind  the  world  in  mechan 
ical  arts,  it  would  be  better  to  have  intercourse  with 
foreigners,  learn  their  drill  and  tactics,  and  thus  fight 
them  with  their  own  weapons.  If  the  Japanese 
pleased,  they  might  then  shut  up  their  country  or 
even  go  abroad  to  conquer  other  nations.  Others 
doubted  the  ability  or  willingness  of  many  of  the 
disaffected  class  to  fight  for  Tokugawa. 

The  native  historians  tell  us  that  "the  Sho-gun 
lyeyoshi,  who  had  been  ill  since  the  beginning  of  the 
summer,  was  rendered  very  anxious  about  this  sud 
den  and  pressing  affair  of  the  outer  barbarians  ;  " 
and,  soon  after  sickened  and  died.  He  was  the 
father  of  twenty-five  children,  all  but  four  of  whom 
had  died  in  infancy.  One  of  his  daughters  had  mar 
ried.  His  death  at  this  alarming  crisis  plunged  his 
retainers  in  the  deepest  grief.  lyesada,  his  seventh 
child,  succeeded  him  as  the  thirteenth  sho-gun  of  the 
Tokugawa  line. 


JAPANESE    TREATY-MAKING.  347 

Of  this  fact,  Perry  had  received  official  notice  from 
the  Japanese  through  the  Dutch  authorities.  As  the 
communication  hinted  that  delay  was  necessary  on 
account  of  official  mourning,  Perry,  instead  of  cock- 
billing  his  yards,  thought  it  a  ruse,  and  delayed  not  a 
moment. 

Accordingly,  on  the  I4th  of  January  1854,  in  the 
Siisquchanna.  with  the  Powhatan  and  Mississippi 
towing  the  stores  ships  Lexington  and  Southhampton, 
the  Commodore  left  for  Riu  Kiu ;  the  Macedonian  and 
Supply  having  gone  on  a  few  days  before  to  join  the 
Vandalia.  The  Plymouth  and  Saratoga  were  to 
come  later.  The  steamers  arrived  at  Napa,  January 
2Oth,  and  the  Commodore  thus  paid  his  fourth  visit 
to  Riu  Kiu. 

The  slow  sailers  were  to  be  sent  ahead  to  Yedo 
Bay,  with  one  week's  start.  Captain  Abbot  in  the 
Macedonian,  in  company  with  the  Vandalia,  Lexing 
ton,  and  Southampton  set  out  northward  on  the  ist 
of  February.  The  Commodore  followed  on  the  /th 
with  the  three  steamers,  meeting  the  Saratoga  just 
outside.  The  Supply  with  coal  and  live  stock  from 
Shanghai,  was  to  join  the  squadron  in  Yedo  Bay. 
The  promise  of  an  "  imposing  squadron  of  twelve 
vessels,"  seemed  about  to  be  fulfilled. 

In  Yedo,  the  new  Sho-gun  lye-sada  and  his  advis 
ers  had  felt  that  something  must  be  done  both  in 
peaceful  and  warlike  preparations.  The  ex-daimio  of 
Mito,  released  from  confinement,  was  appointed  com- 
missioner  of  maritime  defences.  A  series  of  forts 


348  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

was  built  on  the  shallow  part  of  the  bay  in  front  of 
Yeclp,  off  Shinagawa  its  southern  suburb.  Thousands 
of  laborers  were  paid  issJmt  (6  1-4  cts.)  per  day,  and 
the  coins  minted  for  that  purpose  are  still  called 
dai-ba  (fort,  or  fort  money)  by  the  people  around 
Shinagawa.  The_y  were  creditably  built  of  earth,  and 
faced  with  stone  ;  but  having  no  casements,  would 
have  illy  defended  the  wooden  city  from  bombard 
ment  by  Perry's  columbiads.  A  great  number  of 
cannon  were  cast,  and  military  preparations  contin 
ued  unceasingly.  The  expenses  were  met  by  a  levy 
on  the  people  of  Yedo  and  vicinity,  and  on  the  rich 
merchants  of  Ozaka. 

The  old  edict  of  lyeyasu  concerning  naval  architec 
ture  was  rescinded,  and  permission  was  given  to  the 
daimios,  to  build  large  ships  of  war.  Their  distinguish 
ing  flag  was  a  red  ball  representing  the  sun  on  a 
white  ground.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  present 
flag  of  Japan.  The  law  of  1609  had  commanded  ves 
sels  of  over  five  hundred  koku  (2,500  bushels,  or 
30,000  cubic  feet  capacity)  to  be  burned,  and  none 
but  small  coasting  junks  built.  Oixlers  were  given 
to  the  Dutch  to  build  a  man-of-war,  and  to  import 
books  on  modern  military  science.  A  native  who 
had  learned  artillery  from  the  Dutchmen  at  Naga 
saki,  was  now  released  from  the  prison,  and  was  made 
musketry  instructor.  His  method  soon  became  fash 
ionable  and  he  thus  became  the  introducer  of  the 
European  system  of  warfare  into  Japan.  Drilling, 
cannon-casting  and  fort-building  were  now  the  rage. 


JAPANESE    TREATY-MAKING.  349 

Yet  in  all  this  fuss  and  preparation,  wise  men  saw 
only  the  fulfilment  on  a  national  scale  of  their  own 
old  proverb.  "  On  seeing  the  enemy,  to  begin  to 
whet  arrows."  Belated  war-preparations,  when  the  en 
emy  was  at  their  gates,  seemed  futile.  On  the  ist  day 
of  the  nth  month  (December  2d)  a  notification  was 
issued,  that  "  owing  to  want  of  military  efficiency, 
the  Americans  would,  on  their  return,  be  dealt  with 
peaceably."  The  salary  of  the  governor  of  Uraga 
was  raised.  Very  significantly,  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  the  old  practice  of  Fumi-ye,  or  trampling  on  the 
cross  and  Christian  emblems,  so  long  practiced  at 
Nagasaki,  was  abolished.  Perry's  way  was  now  clear, 
though  he  knew  it  not. 

There  was  a  native  scholar  in  Yedo,  a  typical 
progressive  Japanese  of  this  period,  a  student,  through 
the  medium  of  the  Dutch  language,  of  European  liter 
ature.  Hearing  of  the  order  for  a  man-of-war  and 
books  from  Holland,  he  petitioned  the  government 
rather  to  send  Japanese  to  Europe  to  study  the  most 
important  arts,  and  to  assist  in  building  and  working 
the  ship.  They  would  thus  learn  the  art  of  naviga 
tion  on  the  voyage,  and  see  the  foreign  countries. 
The  authorities  did  not  favor  his  proposition.  Yos- 
hida  Shoin,  one  of  his  former  pupils,  heard  of  his  old 
master's  plan,  and  resolved  himself  to  make  a  sea- 
voyage. 

When  Admiral  Pontiatine  with  the  Russian  ships 
put  in  at  Nagasaki  in  September  "  to  discuss  the 
question  of  the  northern  boundary  of  the  two  nations 


35O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

in  Saghalin,"  Yoshida  bade  his  master  good-bye, 
merely  saying  that  he  was  going  on  a  visit  to  Naga 
saki,  but  secretly  intending  to  go  abroad. 

Sakuma,  who  divined  his  plan,  gave  him  money 
for  his  expenses ;  and,  according  to  the  custom  of 
polite  farewells,  composed  a  stanza  of  Chinese  poetry 
in  which  he  wished  him  a  safe  and  pleasant  journey. 
On  his  arrival  at  Nagasaki,  the  ship  had  gone.  He 
then  returned_to  Yedo,  and  Sakuma  secretly  told  him 
how  to  set  about  getting  passage  on  the  American 
vessels.  We  shall  hear  of  Yoshida  again.  He  and 
Sakuma  were  typical  men  in  a  small,  but  soon  to  be 
triumphant,  majority. 

As  the  time  for  Perry's  return  was  near  at  hand, 
the  Bakafu  chose  Hayashi,  the  chief  Professor  of 
the  Chinese  language  and  literature  in  the  Dai  Gakko 
(Great  School,  or  University)  to  treat  with  Perry. 
As  the  American  interpreters  were  Chinese  scholars, 
the  documents,  besides  those  in  the  Dutch  and  Eng 
lish  language  for  the  benefit  of  Americans,  would 
be  in  the  Chinese  character  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Japanese.  Hayashi  was  a  man  profoundly  yersed  in 
Chinesejearning,  a  pedant,  and  a  stickler  for  exact 
terms.  He  was  also  a  most  devotedly  loyal  retainer 
of  the  house  of  Tokugawa.  His  rank  was  that  of  a 
Hatamoto  (flag-bearer),  and  his  title  Dai  Gaku  no 
Kami,  or  Regent  of  the  University,  (not  "  Prince  "  of 
Dai  Gaku.)  He  was  of  benevolent  countenance,  and 
courtly  manners,  dignified  presence.  He  had  lived 
the  life  of  a  scholar,  expounding  the  classics  of  Con- 


JAPANESE    TREATY-MAKING.  351 

fucius  and  Mencius,  and  was  highly  respected  at 
court  for  his  vast  learning.  In  brief,  he  was  a  typi 
cal  product,  and  one.-of  -±he  best  specimens  of  Yedq 
culluifi-in  the  later  days  of  the  Tokugawas.  The 
Hayashi  family  was  noted  for  the  many  scholars  in 
Chinese  literature  that  adorned  the  country  and  the 
name.  He  was  carefully  instructed  by  his  superior 
officers  as  how  he  should  deal  with  Perry.  He  made 
his  preparations  so  as  to  leave  the  academic  groves 
of  Seido  for  the  treaty  house  at  Uraga  ;  for  there,  it 
was  decreed  in  Yedo  that  the  treaty  was  to  be  made. 
Fortunately  for  the  Japanese,  they  ha^L^Jirstjate 
interpreter  of  English,  though  Perry  knew  it  not. 
His  name  was  Nakahama  Manjiro.  With  his  two 
companions,  he  had  been  picked  up  at  sea  in  1841, 
by  an  American  captain,  J.  H.  Whitfield,  and  brought 
by  way  of  Honolulu  to  the  United  States,  where  he 
obtained  a  good  school  education.  Returning  to 
Hawaii  in  1850,  he  resolved  with  his  two  companions 
to  return  to  Japan.  Furnished  with  a  duly  attested 
certificate  of  his  American  citizenship  by  the  United 
States  consul,  Elisha  Allen,  afterwards  minister  to 
Washington,  he  built  a  whale-boat  named  The  Ad 
venturer,  sailed  to  Riu  Kiu  in  the  Sarah  Boyd, 
Captain  Whitmore,  and  in  January,  1851,  landed. 
The  three  men  proved  their  nationality  to  the  natives 
of  Riu  Kiu  not  by  their  language,,  which  they  had 
forgotten,  but  by  their  deft  manipulation  of  chop 
sticks,  the  use  of  which  a  Japanese  baby  learns  be 
fore  he  can  talk. 


352  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

After  six  months  in  Riu  Kiu  and  thirty  months  in 
Nagasaki,  the  waifs  reached  their  homes.  On 
being  brought  to  Yedo  with  his  boat,  Manjiro  was 
made  a  samurai  or  wearer  of  two  swords.  As  an 
official  translator,  he  wrestled  with  Bowditch  and 
logarithms,  even  to  the  partial  bleaching  of  his 
hair.  After  several  years  of  severe  work,  twenty 
manuscript  copies  of  his  book  were  made.  His 
boat,  now  come  to  honor,  was  used  as  a  model  for 
others.  The  original  was  placed  in  a  fire-proof  store 
house  as  an  honorable  relic. 

On  Saturday,  the  nth  of  February,  185,2,  three 
days  after  the  Russians- had  left  Nagasaki,  and  on 
the  ninth  day  of  the  Japanese  New  Year,  the  watch 
ers  on  the  hills  of  Idzu  descried  the  American 
squadron  approaching.  The  Macedonian  had  grounded 
on  the  rocks  a  few  miles  from  Kamakura,  the  medie 
val  capital  of  the  Minamoto  Sho-guns,  and  near  the 
spot  over  which  Nitta  Yoshisada,  three  hundred  and 
twenty  years  before,  had  led  his  victorious  hosts  to 
overthrow  the  Hojo  usurpers.  The  powerful  Mississ 
ippi,  which  had  extricated  and  saved  from  'utter  loss 
during  the  Mexican  war,  the  fine  old  frigate  German- 
town  from  a  similar  peril,  easily  drew  off  the  Mace 
donian  on  Sunday,  the  I2th.  On  Monday,  the  I3th, 
amid  all  the  lavish  splendors  of  nature,  for  which  the 
scenery  of  Adzuma,  as  poets  call  eastern  Japan,  is 
noted,  the  stately  line  of  ships,  the  sailers  towed  by 
the  steamers,  moved  up  the  bay, 

"With  all  their  spars  uplifted, 
Like  crosses  of  some  peaceful  crusade." 


JAPANESE    TREATY-MAKING.  353 

The  superb  panorama  that  unfolded  before  the 
eyes  from  the  decks  charmed  all  eyes.  Significant  and 
portentous  seemed  the  position  of  the  lights  of 
heaven  on  that  eventful  day.  To  the  west  of  the 
peerless  mountain  Fuji,  "  the  moon  was  setting 
sharply  defining  one  side  with  its  chill  cold  rays."* 
In  the  orient,  the  sun  arising  in  cloudless  radiance 
burnished  with  brilliant  glory  the  lordly  cone  as  it 
swelled  to  the  sky.  Did  the  natives  recall  their 
poet's  comparison  and  contrast  of  "  the  old 
sage,  grown  sad  and  slow,"  and  "the  youth"  who 
"new  systems,  laws  and  fashions  frames?"  The 
moon  typified  Old  Japan  ready  to  pass  away,  the 
the  sun  heralded  the  New  Japan  that  was  to  be. 
Matthew  Perry  was  set  for  the  rising  and  fall  of 
many  in  the  then  hermit  land. 

Passing  Uraga  and  Perry  Island,  the  seven  ves 
sels  dropped  anchor  at  the  "American  anchorage," 
not  far  from  Yokosuka,  and  off  the  place,  called  in 
Japanese,  Koshiba-oki,  (the  little  grass-plot  looking 
out  on  the  far-off  sea).  Unconsciously,  the  officers 
paced  their  decks  beneath  the  shadows  of  the  twin 
tombs  of  Will  Adamsf  and  his  Japanese  wife. 
From  these  very  headlands,  over  which  the  English 
exile,  who  may  have  seen  Shakespeare,  took  his 
evening  walks  two  centuries  before,  he  had  perhaps 
seen  in  prophetic  vision  a  sight  like  that  below. 

*  Spalding's  "  The  Japan  Expedition,"  p.  213. 
t  The  Mikado's  Empire,  p.  262. 


354  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Happy    coincidence,  that     Perry's  right-hand    man5 
bore  the  same  name,  Adams! 

The  Commodore,  still  mysterious,  invisible  and 
inapproachable,  had  again  out-flanked  the  wil) 
orientals  with  their  own  weapons  and  turned  theii 
heavy  guns  against  themselves.  The  mystery  pla) 
was  kept  up  in  a  style  that  exceeded  that  of 
either  Kioto  or  Yedo.  The  naval  generalissimo 
remained  in  the  Forbidden  Interior  of  his  cabin  as  i 
behind  bamboo  curtains. 

Kuro-kawa  Kahei  and  his  two  interpreters  were 
received_with  excruciating  politeness  by  Captairf 
Adams,  assisted  by  Messrs.  Portman,  Williams  and 
the  Commodore's  son.  In  the  delegation  of  official 
men  were  ometsiikes  (censors,  spies,  or  checks).  They 
were  well  named  "  eye-appliers  "  (to  holes  usually 
made  noiselessly,  with  moistened  finger-tips,  in  the 
paper  screens  of  the  houses).  These  suggested 
that  the  negotiations  should  be  carried  on  at  K.am- 
akura  or  Uraga.  The  programme,  foreshadowed 
by  answers  to  their  questions,  was  an  American 
advance  on  that  of  the  previous  year.  The  "Ad 
miral  "  would  do  no  such  thing.  It  must  be  near 
the  present"  safe  anchorage.  All  the  visits,  con 
ferences,  discussions,  presents,  bonbons,  oranges  and 
confectionery,  offers  of  eggs,  fish  and  vegetables 
were  impotent  to  alter  the  fiat  of  the  Invisible 
Power  in  the  cabin. 

For   the    benefit    of   the    United    States  and   the 
civilized    world,    the    survey    boats    were    out    daily 


JAPANESE    TREATY-MAKING.  355 

making  a  map  of  the  bottom  of  the  bay.  No  boats' 
crews  were  allowed  to  land.  No  native  was  in  any 
way  injured  in  person  or  property.  The  visitors 
received  on  deck  refreshments,  champagne,  sugared 
brandy,  port,  and  politeness  in  profusion.  Of  in 
formation  concerning  the  invisible  "Admiral's" 
policy,  save  as  His  Invisibility  allowed  it,  they  re 
ceived  not  a  word. 

Several  days  passed,  the  broad  pennant  was 
transferred  to  the  Poivhatan,  and  the  Japanese 
were  given  till  the  2ist  to  make  up  their  mind. 
Captain  Adams  was  sent  to  Uraga  to  inspect  the 
proposed  place  of  anchorage  and  the  new  building 
specially  erected  for  treaty  making.  There  an  in 
cident  occurred  which  afforded  more  fun  to  the 
Japanese  than  to  the  Americans.  On  the  22nd  of 
February,  while  the  guns  of  the  Vandalia  were 
thundering  a  salute  in  honor  of  Washington,  Captain 
Adams  with  fourteen  officers  and  attendants  entered 
the  hall  of  reception.  Here  were  gathered  a  formid 
able  array  of  dignitaries,  retainers  and  no  less  than 
fifty  soldiers.  A  suspicion  of  treachery  dawned  on 
the  Americans.  Was  this  to  be  a  Golownin  affair  ? 

Perhaps  Izawa,  the  daimio  in  charge,  was  fond  of 
a  joke.  He  was,  in  fact,  in  favor  of  foreign  inter 
course,  but  more  noted  for  high  living  and  gay  sport 
than  for  dignity  of  word  and  mien,  withal  a  lively 
and  popular  fellow.  After  preliminaries,  Captain 
Adams  handed  him  the  Commodore's  note.  Pre 
paratory  to  getting  out  his  goggle-spectacles,  he 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

folded  his  fan  with  a  tremendous  snap.  Instantly 
the  American  officers,  alarmed  and  exchanging 
glances  of  concern,  clapped  hands  to  their  revolvers.* 
All  the  more  amused,  Izawa  most  deliberately  and 
with  scarcely  repressed  inward  merriment,  adjusted 
his  goggles,  and  read  the  document,  finding  it  in 
good  form.  After  decoctions  of  rice  and  tea,  with 
sponge-cake  and  oranges  (sake,  c/ia,  Castile,  mikan] 
had  been  served,  the  officers  returned  to  their  ships 
at  the  8th  hour,  Japanese  time,  the  Hour  of  the  Ape, 
or  about  3  p.  m.  Captain  Adams  decided  that  the 
building  proposed  for  treaty  negotiations  was  "for 
simple  talk  large  enough,  but  not  for  the  display  of 
presents."  Kurihama  was  then  suggested.  "  No, 
the  Admiral  would  rather  go  to  Yedo,"  "  No,  no  ! 
better  go  to  Kanagawa,  but  do  please,  please  go  back 
to  Uraga."  This  was  the  simple  substance  of  much 
conversation  carried  on  in  Japanese,  Dutch  and  Eng 
lish,  with  not  a  little  consumption  of  paper,  India 
ink  and  Chinese  characters.  The  one  word  of  Perry 
and  Adams  was  "Yedo."  The  tongues  of  the  in 
terpreters,  or  in  Japanese  "  word-passers,"  grew 
weary,  yet  no  backward  step  was  taken. 

Meanwhile  on  the  24th,  Perry  moved  his  six  ships 
forward  up  the  bay  ten  miles,  anchoring  beyond  Kana 
gawa.  From  the  mast-head  the  huge  temple-gables, 
castle-towers,  fire  lookouts  and  pagodas  of  Yedo 


*  Record  of  Conference  with  the  American  Barbarians.     Japan 
ese  Official  Manuscript. 


JAPANESE  TREATY-MAKING.  357 

could  be  easily  seen,  and  the  bells  of  Shiba  and 
Asakusa  heard.  More  exactly,  the  anchorage  was  off 
Dai-shi-ga-wara,  a  lovely  meadow  (luara)  named  in 
honor  of  Japan's  greatest  medieval  scholar,  His 
Most  Exalted  Reverence,  Kobo,  the  inventor  of  the 
Japanese  alphabets,  learned  in  Chinese  and  Sanskrit, 
and  the  Philo  of  the  Land  of  the  Gods.  He  it  was 
who  absorbed  Shinto,  the  primitive  religion,  into  the 
gorgeous  cult  of  India,  and  made  Buddhism  trium 
phant  in  all  Japan.  Another  happy  omen  for 
Perry  ! 

The  Vandalia  s  boats  now  brought  Hayashi's  letter 
to  Perry,  and  Yezaemon  the  interpreter  came  nomin 
ally  to  plead  again  for  Uraga,  but  in  reality  to  accede 
to  the  American's  decision.  A  fleet  messenger, 
riding  hard  on  relays  of  horses,  had  brought  the  word 
to  Hayashi — (*If  the  American  ships  come  to  Yedo> 
it  will  be  a  national  disgrace.  Stop  them,  and  make 
the  treaty  at  Kanagawa.*/  As  Perry  writes,  ''Find 
ing  the  Commodore  immovable  in  his  purpose,  the 
pretended  ultimatum  of  the  Japanese  commissioners 
was  suddenly  abandoned,  and  a  plac£__directly.  oppo- 
site^atY^kaharna,  was  suggested  as  the  place  of 
treaty. 

The  official  buildings  and  enclosure  finished  March 
9th,  were  erected  on  the  ground  now  covered  by  the 
British  consulate,  the  Custom  House,  the  American 
Union  Church  and  two  streets  of  the  modern  city- 

*  Record  of  Conference.     Jap.  MS. 


3S8  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

They  were  guarded  on  the  left,  right  and  rear  by  the  re 
tainers  of  Ogasawara,  a  high  officer  in  the  Tycoon's 
palace,  and  Sanada,  lord  of  Shinano ;  and  on  the 
water  side  by  Matsudaira,  lord  of  Sagami,  who  had 
hundreds  of  boats  and  their  crews  under  his  com 
mand.  Against  possible  fanatics  and  assassins  who 
might  attack,  or  the  too  progressive  spirits  who 
would  communicate  with  the  Americans,  the  precau 
tions  were  not  wholly  in  vain.  The  writer  has  heard 
Japanese  officers,  now  in  high  rank  but  enlightened, 
declare  that  they  had  devoted  themselves  by  vows  to- 
the  gods  to  kill  Perry,  the  arch-dcfiler  of  the  Holy 
Country.  Only  the  strong  hand  of  government  held 
them  back. 

Further  than  this,  the  Japanese  did  not  know  how 
the  Americans  would  act.  Either  from  malice  in 
tent  or  provoked  by  unruly  natives,  they  might  begin 
war.  Every  one  of  Sanada's  and  Ogasawara's  retain 
ers  were  sworn*  to  ask  no  quarter,  but  fight  till  the 
last  man  was  slain. 


*  Japanese  Record. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

THE  PROFESSOR  AND  THE  SAILOR  MAKE  A  TREATY. 

THE  morning  of  March  8th,  1854,  dawned  clear 
and  beautiful.  The  bay  was  alive  with  gorgeous 
state  barges,  swift  punts,  and  junks  with  tasseled 
prows.  On  land,  in  the  foreground  were  a  few  hun 
dred  feudal  retainers  in  gay  costumes,  while  on  the 
bluffs  beyond  stood  dense  masses  of  spectators. 
These  were  kept  back  with  rope-barriers,  and  by 
petty  officials  of  prodigious  self-importance.  The 
sunbeams  glittered  on  the  bare  heads  and  freshly- 
pomatumed  top-knots  of  country  folk,  and  was  re 
flected  dazzlingly  from  lacquered  hats  and  burnished 
weapons.  In  the  variegated  paraphernalia  of  feudal 
ism, —  then  of  such  vast  importance,  but  now  as  cast 
off  trumpery  transmigrating  through  the  parlors  and 
museums  to  dusty  nirvana  in  the  garrets  of  Christen 
dom,  —  could  be  distinguished  the  insignia  of  the  com 
missioners  and  feudal  lords,  whose  troops  darkened 
the  hill  tops  as  spectators.  The  striped  oval  figure 
of  Hayashi ;  the  five  disks  surrounding  a  smaller 
central  dot  like  satellites  about  Jupiter,  belonging  to 
Ito  ;  the  feminine  millinery,  three  curved  women's 
hats,  of  Isawa ;  the  revolving  disks  suggesting  a 


THE    PROFESSOR    AND    SAILOR    TREATY.  361 

wind-mill,  of  Tsudzuki ;  the  three  Euclid-recalling 
cubes  of  Udono;  the  ring-enclosed  goggle-spectacles 
of  Takenouchi ;  appeared  and  reappeared  on  banner, 
umbrella,  hat,  coat,  and  cover  of  dignitaries  and 
retainers.  Many  and  various  were  the  explanations 
offered  by  the  Americans  as  to  the  cabalistic  meaning 
of  these  crests  of  Japanese  heraldry.  One  in  partic 
ular,  which  looked  like  three  commas  in  perpetual 
revolution,  but  prevented  from  flying  off  into  a 
nebular  hypothesis  by  a  tire,  attracted  special  at 
tention. 

Only  the  stern  discipline  to  which  they  were 
accustomed,  and  the  suspicion  of  possible  need  for 
powder  and  ball,  in  case  of  treachery,  kept  grim  the 
faces  of  marines  and  sailors.  The  whole  tableau 
seemed  to  the  officers  a  well-sustained  joke  from  the 
pages  of  Gulliver's  Travels.  To  Jack  Tar,  it  looked 
as  if  a  pack  of  euchre-cards  had  come  to  enlarged  life. 
The  gay-costumed  figures  and  bronze  visages  moved 
before  him  like  the  flesh-and  blood  originals  of  the 
kings,  jacks,  and  knaves  on  his  favorite  pasteboards. 
Can  we  doubt  but  that  more  than  one  Japanese  now 
saw  himself  in  a  new  light  ? 

With  five  hundred  men  landed  in  twenty-seven 
boats,  each  one,  including  musicians,  thoroughly  well- 
armed,  the  marines  forming  a  hollow  square,  the 
three  bands  discoursing  music,  the  Paixhans  on  the 
Macedonian,  and  the  howitzers  in  the  boats,  making 
fire,  flame,  thunder,  and  echoes;  with  all  possible  fuss, 
parade,  shine  and  glitter,  the  sailor-diplomatist  made 


32  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

disembarkation  at  noon,  in  his  white  gig  from  the 
Powhatan.  With  clue  deliberation  and  stately  march, 
he  entered  the  treaty-house,  where  negotiations 
began.  The  Commodore  knew  as  he  confesses,  "the 
importance  and  moral  influence  of  such  show  upon 
so  ceremonious  and  artificial  a  people  as  the  Japanese." 
Without  being  at  all  anxious  to  imitate  or  copy  them, 
he  yet  impressed  them  amazingly.  How  he  came  to 
know  so  much  about  etiquette  and  propriety,  with 
out  having  lived  in  Kioto,  or  studied  Confucius  or 
Ogasawara  (the  Chesterfield  of  Japan)  strained  their 
wits  to  discover.  Perhaps  they  noticed  that  while 
"the  ernperor,"  that  is  the  chief  daimio  of  Yedo,  and 
the  Mikado's  lieutenant  styled  "  Tycoon,"  (as  Koku- 
O,  king  of  a  country)  received  a  salute  of  twenty-one 
guns,  and  his  hatamoto  Hayashi,  officer  of  the  sixth 
rank  seventeen  guns,  the  first  salute  was  from  the 
heavy  ordnance  on  the  Macedonian,  while  the  others 
were  from  boat-howitzers.  The  Powhatau  hoisted  at 
the  masthead  the  striped  pennant,  which  the  Ameri 
cans  innocently  supposed  was  the  national  emblem. 
The  tedious  business  of  diplomacy  began  by 
interchange  of  notes  and  answers.  Then  Hayashi 
remarked  that  attention  would  be  given  to  the  supply 
of  wood,  coal,  and  water  for  needy  ships,  and  to  the 
care  of  shipwrecked  sailors,  but  that  no  proposition 
for  trade  could  be  allowed.  To  this  Perry  made  no 
reply,  but  spoke  up  suddenly  upon  the  question  of 
burial.  A  marine  on  the  Mississippi  named  Williams, 
had  died  two  days  previously,  and  it  was  proposed  to 


THE    PROFESSOR    AND    SAILOR    TREATY.  363 

bury  him  on  Matsu-shima  (Pine  Isle)  or  Webster's 
Island.  After  private  conferences  by  the  Japanese 
in  another  room,  exchange  of  much  sentiment  on 
both  sides,  and  an  exposition  of  Japanese  law  and 
custom  by  Hayashi  —  during  which  Perry  intimated 
his  readiness  to  stay  in  the  bay  a  year  or  two  if 
necessary  —  permission  was  granted  to  bury  in  one 
of  the  temple-grounds  at  Yokohama.  Thus  began 
with  Christian  ceremonies,  under  the  very  shadow  of 
the  edicts  promulgated  centuries  before,  denouncing 
"the  Christian  criminal  God,"  with  offer  of  gold  to 
informers  against  the  "outlawed  sect,"  that  God's 
acre  now  so  beautiful.  Its  slope  was  to  fatten  with 
many  a  victim  by  the  assassin's  sword  beiore  Japan 
should  be.cjim^a  Land  of  Great  Peace  either  to  the 
alien  or  the  Christian. 

The  native  scribe  adds  in  a  note  to  his  Record, 
"This  subject  was  brought  up  suddenly,  as  if  the 
American  wished  to  find  out  how  quickly  we  were  in 
the  habit  of  deciding  questions.  Hence  the  commis 
sioners  made  their  decision  promptly.  Thereupon 
Perry  seemed  to  be  very  glad  and  almost  to  shed 
tears."  In  response  to  the  Commodore's  assertion 
that  to  esteem  human  life  as  very  precious  was  the 
first  principle  of  the  United  States  government, 
while  the  contrary  was  the  case  with  that  of  Japan, 
Hayashi  answered,  warmly  defending  his  countrymen 
and  superiors  against  intentional  cruelty,  but 
denouncing  the  lawless  character  of  many  of  the 
foreign  sailors.  Like  all  Japanese  of  his  school  and 


364  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

age,  he  wound  up  with  a  panegyric  of  the  pre-emi 
nence  of  Japan  above  all  nations  in  virtue  and 
humanity,  and  the  glory  and  goodness  of  the  great 
Tokugawa  family  which  had  given  peace  to  the  land 
during  two  centuries  or  more. 

"  The  frog  in  the  well  knows  not  the  great  ocean," 
say  his  countrymen  of  to-day. 

In  the  further  negotiations,  the  Japanese  official 
account  of  which  agrees  with  the  details  given  in 
Perry's  own  narrative,  the  Commodore  made 
wholesome  use  of  the  fears  of  the  islanders.  The 
reputation  of  American  ships,  ordnance,  and  armies 
had  preceded  him.  The  invaders  of  Mexico  were 
believed  fully  when  the  wealth,  power,  and  rapidity 
of  movement  possessed  by  the  United  States  were 
dilated  upon.  Perry  threatened  to  make  use  of  "the 
resources  of  civilization,"  if  the  plain  demands  of 
humanity  were  ignored.  It  is  more  than  probable 
that  cold  statistics  would  not  have  justified  his  glow 
ing  vision  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  war-steamers,  full  of 
soldiers,  coming  from  California  to  make  war  on 
Japan,  in  case  her  government  refused  to  help  ship 
wrecked  Americans.  Yet,  of  his  patience,  persistency, 
and  resolve  neither  to  provoke  nor  to  take  an  insult, 
there  can  be  no  question.  Perry,  in  person,  im 
pressed  the  Japanese  commissioners  as  much  as  by 
the  fleet  itself.  They  noted,  as  the  Record  declares, 
that  Captains  Adams,  Abbot,  and  Buchanan,  as 
shown  by  their  uniform  and  epaulettes,  were  of  the 
same  rank,  "  so  that  if  Perry  were  killed,  either  of 


THE    PROFESSOR    AND    SAILOR    TREATY.  36$ 

the  others  could  command,"  and  continue  the  matter 
in  hand. 

The  Record  also  reflects  the  character  of  Perry  as 
a  man  of  kindly  consideration.  His  friendly  regard 
for  and  sympathy  with  a  people  of  high  and  sensitive 
spirit,  which  had  been  weakened  by  centuries  of 
enforced  isolation,  is  also  witnessed  to.  In  one  sense 
the  Japanese  feel,  to  this  clay,  proud  to  have  been 
put  under  pressure  by  so  true  a  soldier,  and  so 
genuine  a  friend. 

Between  ship  and  shore,  during  the  blustery 
March  weather,  the  Commodore  made  many  trips 
in  his  barge,  accompanied  by  chosen  officers.  One 
day,  with  Pay-director  J.  G.  Harris,  who  relates  the 
incident,  Perry  and  his  companions  entered  the 
treaty-house.  Their  boat-cloaks,  which  they  had 
worn  to  protect  the  "  bright-work"  of  epaulettes, 
buttons  and  belts  from  the  salt  spray,  were  still  over 
their  shoulders.  One  of  the  first  questions  asked  the 
Japanese  commissioners  was,  whether  they  had  fa 
vorably  considered  the  proposition  of  the  day  be 
fore,  that  certain  ports  should  be  opened. 

Hayashi  replied  that  they  had  pondered  the  matter, 
and  had  concluded  that  Shimoda  and  Hakodate  should 
be  opened ;  provided  that  Americans  would  not 
travel  into  the  interior  further  than  they  could  go 
and  return  the  same  day  ;  and  provided,  further,  that 
no  American  women  should  be  brought  to  Japan. 

When  the  translation  of  Hayashi's  reply  was  an 
nounced,  the  Commodore  straightened  up,  threw 


366  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

back  his  boat-cloak,  and  excitedly  exclaimed  :  "Great 
Heavens,  if  I  were  to  permit  any  such  stipulation  as 
that  in  the  treaty,  when  I  got  home  the  women  would 
pull  out  all  the  hair  out  of  my  head." 

The  Japanese  fairly  trembled  at  the  Commodore's 
apparent  excitement,  supposing  they  had  grossly 
offended  him.  When,  however,  explanation  was  made 
by  the  interpreters,  they  all  laughed  right  heartily, 
and  the  business  continued. 

The  Ninth  Article,  or  the  "favored  nation"  clause 
was  introduced  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  S.  Wells 
Williams.* 

Unknown  to  any  of  the  Americans,  Nakahama 
Manjiro,  who  had  received  a  good  common  school 
education  in  the  United  States,  sat  in  an  adjoining 
room,  unseen  but  active,  as  the  American  interpreter 
for  the  Japanese.  All  the  documents  in  English  and 
Chinese  were  submitted  to  him  for  correction  and 
approval.!  He  was  afterwards  made  curator  of  the 
scientific  and  mechanical  apparatus  brought  by 
Perry  and  presented  by  the  United  States  govern 
ment,  and  in  1860,  he  navigated  the  first  Japanese 
steamer,  commanded  by  Katsu  Awa,  to  Hawaii  and 
California.  Katsu  Awa  was  one  of  the  captains  com 
manding  the  troops  detailed  to  watch  carefully  "the 
American  barbarians,  lest  they  should  proceed  to 
acts  of  violence." 


*  Autograph  letter  to  the  writer.  February  8th,  1883. 

t  T/te  Friend,  Honolulu.  October,  1884  —  "An  unpublished 
chapter  in  the  History  of  Japan.''  Rev.  S.  C.  Damon's  interview 
with  Manjiro  in  Tokio,  summer  of  1884 


THE    PROFESSOR    AND    SAILOR    TREATY.  367 

While  the  negotiations  were  progressing,  the  other 
ships  arrived,  making  ten  in  all.  Presents  and  bou 
quets  were  exchanged,  and  guests  and  hosts  amused 
each  other.  American  palates  were  tickled  with 
castira  (Castile)  or  sponge  cake,  rice  beer,  candied 
walnuts,  Suruga  tea,  pickled  plums,  sugared  fruits, 
sea-weed  jelly,  luscious  crabs  and  prawns,  dried  per 
simmons,  boiled  eggs,  fish  soups,  broiled  tai,  koi  and 
karei  fresh  from  the  nets  of  the  Yokohama  fisher 
man.  They  essayed  or  avoided  the  impossible 
dishes  of  cuttle  and  sliced  raw  fish.  All  was  served 
in  the  baby-house  china  and  lacquered  ware  of  the 
country.  Some  of  the  officers  were  vividly  re 
minded  of  their  infantile  days. 

The  Japanese  were  regaled  with  viands  that 
were  master-pieces  of  American  cookery.  To  the 
intense  amusement  of  the  "  children  of  the  gods," 
the  lords  of  the  kitchen  were  kurombo  (blacks),  a 
color  and  a  creature  such  they  had  seen  only  in  their 
own  theatres  when  candle-holders  with  lamp-blacked 
faces  illuminated  the  facial  performances  of  actors. 
Save  the  dignified  professor,  Hayashi,  they  became 
over-flowingly  merry  over  champagne  and  the  nati 
onal  mixed  drinks  of  the  Great  Republic.  They 
learned  the  mysteries  of  mint-juleps  and  brandy- 
smashes.  They  lost  their  center  of  gravity  over 
puddings  and  potations,  and  then  laughed  themselves 
sober  at  the  sailors'  exhibition  of  negro  minstrelsy. 
They  were  shown  the  discipline  and  drill  of  the 
ships,  and  the  evolution  of  the  marines.  They 


368  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

were  delighted  with  presents  which  revealed  the 
secrets  of  the  foreigners'  power.  Rifles  and  gun 
powder,  the  electric  telegraph,  the  steam  locomotive 
and  train,  life-boats,  stoves,  clocks,  sewing-machines 
agricultural  implements  and  machinery,  standard, 
scales,  weights,  measures,  maps  and  charts,  the 
works  of  Audubon  and  other  American  authors 
were  presented,  most  improperly  labeled  or  en 
graved  "To  the  Emperor  of  Japan."  The  Mikado, 
Japan's  only  emperor,  never  saw  them,  though  the 
writer  did  in  the  storerooms  of  the  exiled  Tycoon 
at  Shidztioka  in  1 872.  The  American  may  proudly 
note  how  very  large  a  share  his  countrymen  have 
had  in  inventions  and  in  applications  of  the  great 
natural  forces  that  have  revolutionized  modern  so 
ciety.  That  one  mile  of  telegraph  wire  has  now 
become  thousands  ;  and  that  tiny  railway,  with  toy 
locomotive  and  one  car  able  to  hold  only  a  child,  was 
the  germ  of  the  railway  system  in  the  Mikado's 
empire.  Historic  truth  compels  us  to  add  that 
among  the  presents  there  were  one  hundred  barrels 
of  whiskey,  a  good  supply  of  cherry  cordial,  and  cham 
pagne.  Thus  did  the  new  civilization  with  its  good 
and  evil  confront  the  old.  New  Japan  was  to  be 
born  in  the  age  of  steam,  electricity,  the  photograph, 
the  newspaper  and  the  printing  press  ;  yet  in  the 
train  of  the  culture  of  the  West  was  to  follow  its 
curses  and  enemies.  With  the  sons  of  God  came 
Satan  also. 

In  return,  the  Japanese  presented  the  delicate  spe- 


THE    PROFESSOR    AND    SAILOR    TREATY.  369 

cialties  of  the  artisans  of  their  country,  in  bronze, 
lacquer,  porcelain,  bamboo,  ivory,  silk  and  paper  ;  ^^ 

with  coins,  matchlocks  and  swords,  which  now  rest 
in  the  Smithsonian  Institute.  For  the  squadron,  one 
hundred  koku  (five  hundred  bushels)  of  rice  and 
three  hundred  chickens  were  provided.  They  enter 
tained  their  guests  with  wrestling  matches  between 
the  prize  bipeds  whose  diet  includes  the  entire  fauna 
of  Japan.  Strangely  enough,  they  did  not  play  dakiu 
or  polo,  their  national  game  on  horseback,  in  which 
so  many  of  their  riders  excel.  All  the  presents  were 
duly  wrapped  in  paper,  with  a  symbolic  folded  paper 
and  dried  fish  skin. 

During  the  two  months  and  more  of  the  presence 
of  the  ships  in  the  bay,  the  Japanese  cruisers  and 
spy-boats  kept  watch  and  ward  in  cordon,  though  at 
a  distance  from  the  Americans.  This  was  to  pre 
vent  political  enemies  and  too  eager  students  from 
getting  aboard  in  order  to  leave  Japan.  Again  and 
again  did  Yoshida  Shoin  and  his  companion  attempt 
to  break  the  blockade,  but  in  vain.  The  pair  then 
set  off  overland  to  Shimoda. 

When  the  telegraph  poles  and  rails  for  the  loco 
motive  had  been  made  ready,  the  news  of  the  exhi 
bition  about  to  be  given  fired  the  samurai  of  Yedo 
with  consuming  curiosity  to  see.  All  sorts  of  pre 
texts  were  made  to  obtain  permission  to  be  on  the 
spot.  Egawa,  a  noted  flag-supporter  whose  yashiki 
or  feudal  palace  lay  near  Shiba  in  Yedo,  insisted  on 
coming  to  Yokohama  on  the  pretext  of  guarding  the 
treaty  building.  He  was  ordered  back,  and  it  was 


370 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 


hinted  that  Sanada's  men  at  arms  could  perform 
worthily  the  coveted  duty.  If  the  Americans  made 
war  and  proceeded  to  Yedo,  Egawa's  picked  men 
could  die  more  nobly  "under  the  Sho-gun's  knee." 
As  the  Japanese  narrator  learned  afterwards,  Ega 
wa's  real  purpose  was  to  learn  telegraphy  and  the 
secrets  of  steam  engineering.  It  is  not  at  all  im 
probable  that  among  his  band  of  well-dressed  gentle 
men  were  expert  mechanics  as  well  as  students  who 
had  from  the  Dutch  at  Nagasaki  obtained  their  first 
knowledge  of  western  inventions. 

The  treaty  was  signed  March  3ist,  1854.     Its  pro 
visions  are  thus  given   by   a  Japanese  author*  :  - 


SIGNATURES    AND    PEN-SEALS    OF    THE  JAPANESE    TREATY 
COMMISSIONERS. 

*  Kinsd  Shiriaku,  p.  3. 


THE    PROFESSOR    AND    SAILOR    TREATY.  3/1 

"  The  Bakafu  promised  to  accord  kind  treatment  to 
shipwrecked  sailors,  permission  to  obtain  wood, 
water,  coal,  provisions  and  other  stores  needed  by 
ships  at  sea,  with  leave  also  to  anchor  in  the  ports  of 
Shimoda  in  Idzu  and  Hakodate  in  Matsumae."  Trade 
or  residence  was  not  yet  secured.  "  The  hermit  " 
was  as  yet  unwilling  to  enter  "  the  market-place." 
The  gains  by  treaty  did  not  seem  great,  but  Perry 
knew  then,  as  we  know  more  fully  now,  that  the 
thin  end  of  a  great  wedge  had  been  inserted  in  the 
right  place.  He  had  made  a  beginning  which  was 
half  the  end,  as  we  shall  see  farther  on. 

The  sleeping  princess  had  received  her  first  kiss, 
and  the  gates  of  Thornrose  castle  would  soon  fly 
open.  They  were  now  ajar.  More  than  one  native 
of  this  "  Princess  Country"  recalled  the  hiding  of 
the  Sun-goddess  in  the  cave,  and  how  with  music 
and  dance,  feast  and  frolic,  and  show  of  cunning  in 
ventions  exciting  her  curiosity,  she  was  lured  to 
peep  out,  so  that  the  strong-handed  god  could  open 
the  door  fully  and  all  faces  become  light  with  joy.* 

Moving  his  steamers  up  the  bay  to  within  sight  of 
Yedo,  the  Commodore  left  on  the  i8th  of  April  for 
Shimoda,  having  sent  the  sailing  ships  ahead  for 
survey.  For  nine  weeks  he  had  held  in  leash  his 
two  thousand  or  more  ship's  people,  and  had  im 
pressed  the  Japanese  with  the  decency  and  dignity 
of  the  American  sailor's  behavior.  Grand  as  was 

*  Japanese  Fairy  World,  p.  300. 


3/2  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

the  triumph  he  accomplished  in  diplomacy,  his 
victory  in  discipline  seems  equally  praiseworthy 
and  remarkable. 

At  Shimoda  (now  noted  chiefly  for  the  quarries 
which  furnish  stone  for  the  modern  government 
buildings  in  Tokio)  the  squadron  remained  until  the 
end  of  the  first  week  in  May.  One  day  late  in  April 
as  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams  and  clerk  J.  W.  Spalding 
were  botanizing  on  land,  Yoshida  Shoin  and  his  de 
voted  companion,  Ichiji  Koda  met  them,  and  pressed 
into  the  clerk's  bosom  a  letter.*  On  the  appearance 
of  Japanese  officers,  they  disappeared.  Somewhat 
after  midnight  of  the  25th  the  watch-officer  on  the 
Mississippi  heard  the  cry  of  "American,  American  !  " 
With  their  delicate  and  blistered  hands  they  implored 
in  the  language  of  gesture  to  be  taken  on  board,  that 
their  boats  be  cast  adrift,  and  they  be  secreted  aboard. 
Their  clothing  was  stuffed  full  of  writing-paper  and 
materials,  on  which  they  expected  to  note  down  what 
they  saw  in  foreign  countries.  They  were  sent  to 
the  flag  ship,  and  Perry,  as  he  felt  in  honor  and  in 
conscience  bound,  despite  his  own  sympathies  and 
desires  and  their  piteous  appeals,  sent  them  ashore. 
Further  than  this,  he  was  unable  to  get  at  the 
real  motive  of  the  suppliants.  "  It  might  have 
been  a  stratagem  to  test  American  honor,  and  some 
believed  it  so  to  be,"  yet  Perry  wrote  in  addition, 

*  Perry's  Narrative,  pp.  484-489.  Spalding's  Japan  Expedi 
tion,  pp.  276-286.  R.  L.  Stevenson's  Familiar  Studies  of  Men 
and  Books. 


THE    PROFESSOR    AND    SAILOR    TREATY.          373 

with  the  prophecy  of  hope,    "  In  this   disposition  of 
the  people  in  Japan,   what    a    field    of    speculation, . 
and  it  may  be  added,  what  a  prospect  full  of  hope 
opens  for  the  future  of  that  interesting  country." 

The  prisoners  sent  to  Choshiu,  were  kept  incarcer 
ated  within  the  limits  of  their  own  clan  for  five  years. 
Sakuma  was  punished  as  an  accomplice,  because  his 
stanza  of  poetry  was  discovered  in  Yoshida's  bag 
gage.  Active  in  those  events  leading  to  the  revo 
lution  of  1868,  Yoshida  (who  altered  the  name  to 
Toraijiro)  suffered  decapitation  and  political  martyr 
dom  in  Yedo  January  3ist,  1859.  He  died  think 
ing  it 

':  Better  to  be  a  crystal,  though  shattered, 

Than  lie  as  a  tile  unbroken  on  the  housetop." 

His  indomitable  spirit  possessed  others,  and  his 
pupils  rose  to  high  office  and  power  in  the  wave  of 
revolution  that  floated  the  boy-mikado  to  supreme 
power  and  placed  the  national  capitol  in  Yedo  in 
1868. 

The  Commodore  arrived  at  Hakodate  May  17  and 
remained  in  the  waters  of  Yezo  until  June  28th, 
1854.  He  little  knew  then  that  the  beautiful  harbor 
would  fourteen  years  later  be  made  famous  by  a  naval 
battle  between  the  Sho-gun's  force  of  Dutch  and 
American-built  wooden  war  steamers,  and  the  Mika 
do's  iron-clad  ram  Adzuma  Kan  (Stonewall). 

Sailing  for  Riu  Kiu,  he  entered  Napa  harbor,  July 
ist.  On  the  I2th,  the  regent  presented  him  with  a 
large  bronze  bell  of  fine  workmanship,  cast  in  1168, 


374  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

A.  D.,  by  two  Japanese  artizans,  and  inscribed  with 
flowery  sentences.  One,  which  declared  that  "  the 
barbarians  would  never  invade  the  land,"  had  a  strik 
ing  significance,  though  its  composer  had  proved  a 
false  prophet.  It  now  hangs,  tongueless  but  useful, 
in  the  grounds  of  the  Annapolis  Naval  Academy, 
As  from  China  and  Formosa,  so  from  Japan  at 
Shimoda  and  in  Riu  Kiu,  blocks  of  native  stone 
duly  engraved  were  accepted  as  contributions  to  the 
obelisk  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  in  perpetua 
tion  of  the  memory  of  Washington.  On  the  i/th, 
the  other  vessels  of  the  squadron  having  been  des 
patched  on  various  missions,  the  Commodore  in  the 
Mississippi  left  Napa  for  Hong  Kong. 

The  glory  of  Commodore  Perry's  success  is  not 
that  he  "invented,"  or  "first  thought  of"  or  was. 
the  "sole  author,  originator,  and  father  of  the  Japan 
expedition."  Such  language  is  nonsense,  for  the 
thought  was  in  many  minds,  both  of  naval  meii  and 
civilians,  from  Roberts  to  Glynn  and  Aulick;|but  it 
was  Perry's  persistency  that  first  conquered  foT him 
self  a  fleet,  his  thorough-going  method  of  procedure 
in  every  detail,  and  his  powerful  personality  and  in 
vincible  tenacity  in  dealing  with  the  Japanese,  that 
won  a  quick  and  permanent  success  without  a  drop 
of  blood.  A  thorough  man  of  war  he  was  from  his 
youth  up  ;  yet  he  proved  himself  a  nobler  hero,  in 
that  he  restrained  himself  and  his  lieutenants  from 
the  use  of  force,  while  yet  not  giving  place  for  a 
moment  to  the  frivolities  of  Japanese  yakunin  of  the 
Tokugawa  period. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

LAST    LABORS. 

FOR  over  two  years,  since  leaving  his  native 
country,  Perry  had  been  under  a  constant  burden  of 
responsibility  incurred  in  anxiety  to  achieve  the 
grand  object  of  his  mission.  His  close  attention  to 
details,  the  unexpected  annoyances  in  a  sub-tropical 
climate,  and  the  long  strain  upon  his  nerves  had 
begun  to  wear  upon  a  robust  frame.  He  now  looked 
eagerly  for  his  successor,  and  to  the  rest  of  home. 
To  his  joy  he  found  at  Hong  Kong  orders  permitting 
him  to  return  either  in  the  Mississippi,  or  in  the 
British  mail  steamer  by  way  of  India.  He  chose  the 
latter. 

The  storeships,  Supply  and  Lexington,  were  ordered 
homeward  by  way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  the 
Susquekanna  -and  Mississippi  for  New  York  by  way 
of  Shimoda,  Honolulu  and  Rio  Janeiro.  The  Missis 
sippi  was  to  tow  the  Soutlihampton,  which  contained 
coal  for  the  two  steamers.  The  Qpmmodore  awaited 
only  the  arrival  of  the  Macedonian  .from  Manilla, 
whither  she  had  gone  to  return  the  waifs  picked  up 
at  sea,  to  turn  over  his* command  to  Captain  Abbot. 

Before  permitting  Perry  to  leave  for  home,  the 
American  commercial  residents  in  China  gave. the 


3/6  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Commodore  an  expression  of  their  estimate  of  his 
character  as  a  man,  and  their  appreciation  of  his 
services  as  a  diplomatist  to  their  country.  This  took 
the  form  of  a  banquet,  with  an  address  of  unusual 
merit  by  Gideon  Nye,  and  the  presentation  of  an 
elaborate  candelabrum  made  by  Chinese  jewelers  in 
crystal  and  sycee  silver.  In  return,  Perry  presented 
to  Mr.  Nye  a  cane  made  of  gun  carriages  from  San 
Juan  D'Ulloa.  Owing  to  war  and  the  local  troubles, 
the  work  of  art  did  not  reach  New  York  until 
December  1858.* 

On  the  morning  of  September  nth,  at  Hong 
Kong,  the  Mississippi  and  Macedonian  fired  parting 
salutes.  The  yards  and  rigging  were  manned  by 
the  sailors  who  gave  three  hearty  cheers,  and  the 
British  mail  steamer,  Hindostan,  moved  off  bearing 
the  diplomatist  and  his  flag-lieutenant  homeward. 

From  England  Perry  crossed  to  the  continent,  and 
at  Hague,  spent  several  delightful  days  at  the  house 
of  his  son-in-law,  the  American  Minister,  the  Hon. 
August  Belmont.  With  Mrs.  Belmont,  the  Commo 
dore's  daughter  Caroline,  were  then  visiting  Mrs. 
Perry  and  Miss  Perry,  the  Commodore's  wife  and 
youngest  daughter.  Thence  returning  to  Liverpool 
on  Christmas  day,  he  paid  a  visit  to  the  American 
consul  at  Liverpool,  one  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  who 

has  thus  recorded  his  impression  of  his  visitor:  —  f 

j» 

*  See  letter  of  James  Purdon  Esq.,  Ne-v  York  Times,  January 
6th,  1859. 

t  English  Note  Books,  Vol.  I.,  Dec.  25,  1854. 


LAST    LABORS.  377 

"Commodore  P  —  called  to  see  me  this  morning  —  a 
brisk,  gentlemanly,  off-hand,  but  not  rough,  unaffected 
and  sensible  man,  looking  not  so  elderly  as  he  might,  on 
account  of  a  very  well  made  wig. 

"  He  is  now  on  a  return  from  a  cruise  to  the  East 
Indian  seas  and  goes  home  by  the  Baltic  with  a  prospect 
of  being1  very  well  received  on  account  of  his  treaty  with 
Japan.  I  seldom  meet  with  a  man  who  puts  himself 
more  immediately  on  conversable  terms  than  the  Commo 
dore.  He  soon  introduced  his  particular  business  with 
me, —  it  being  to  inquire  whether  I  could  recommend 
some  suitable  person  to  prepare  his  notes  and  materials  for 
the  publication  of  an  account  of  his  voyage.  He  was 
good  enough  to  say  that  he  had  fixed  upon  me,  in  his  own 
mind,  for  this  office;  but  that  my  public  duties  would,  of 

course,  prevent  me  from  engaging  in  it.  I  spoke  of 

,  and  one  or  two  others  but  he  seemed  to  have  some 

acquaintance  with  the  literature  of  the  day,  and  did  not 
grasp  very  cordially  at  any  name  that  I  could  think  of  ; 
nor  indeed  could  I  recommend  any  one  with  full  confi 
dence.  It  would  be  a  very  desirable  task  for  a  young 
literary  man,  or  for  that  matter  for  an  old  one  ;  for  the 
world  can  scarcely  have  in  reserve  a  less  hackneyed 
theme  than  Japan." 

The  master  of  English  style,  the  literary  Amer 
ican  Puritan,  so  thoroughly  at  home  in  spirit-land 
and  in  analysis  of  conscience,  was  not  expert  in 
judging  visible  things.  His  mistake  in  describing 
the  material  on  Perry's  scalp  was  amusing  though 
natural.  Not  a  few  persons  supposed  that  the  Com 
modore  wore  a  wig,  yet  the  only  head-ornament  made 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

use  of  by  him  was  that  given  him  by  the  Almighty, 
and  still  duplicated  in  his  children.  His  handsome 
and  luxuriant  hair  grew  well  forward  on  his  fore 
head. 

Perry,  though  exultant  of  his  success,  was  uncer 
tain  of  his  political  reception.  There  were  dangers 
in  a  change  of  administration.  The  Japan  expedition 
was  a  Whig  measure,  while  the  party  now  in  power 
was  Democratic.  The  English  newspapers  seemed 
to  entertain  a  high  opinion  of  the  Commodore's 
ability,  and  very  flattering  were  some  of  their  ac 
counts  of  the  expedition  and  the  editorials  concerning 
its  leader.  Not  able  to  understand  our  Republican 
institutions,  one  of  them  wondered,  with  a  "blush  of 
shame,"  "Why  the  government  does  nothing  for 
Perry  or  Scott."  Others  may  wonder  too. 

Had  a  Whig  administration  been  in  power,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  Perry  would  have  received  any 
reward  further  than  the  thanks  of  the  Navy  Depart 
ment,  the  honor  of  the  publication  of  his  journal,  and 
a  few  copies  of  his  own  book.  Looking  back  now  at 
Pierce's  barren  administration,  the  one  bright  spot  in 
it  seems  to  be  the  opening  of  Japan  to  diplomatic 
intercourse.  It  was  a  time  of  intense  political  excite 
ment.  The  Kansas  troubles,  the  World's  Fair  in 
New  York,  and  the  beginning  of  surveys  for  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  helped  to  turn  attention  from 
foreign  matters.  ,  Nevertheless,  the  Senate  at  the 
opening  of  its  session  December  6th,  called  for  the 
correspondence  relating  to  the  Japan  Expedition. 


LAST    LABORS.  379 

President  Pierce  delayed  action  until  after  an  inter 
view  with  Perry,  and  on  January  3Oth,  1855,  trans 
mitted  the  report.  The  Commodore  had  arrived 
home  on  the  I2th,  eighteen  days  before,  after  an 
absence  of  two  years  and  two  months.  The  official 
documents  were  published  in  an  octavo  volume  of 
195  pages. 

The  Mississippi  left  Hong  Kong  the  next  morning 
after  the  Commodore's  departure,  a  few  hours  after 
that  of  the  United  States  brig,  Porpoise  (which  was 
never  heard  of  again),  on  the  2ist  of  September,  en 
tered  Shimoda  harbor  finding  there  the  Susquehanna 
and  Southampton.  The  Susquehanna  left  on  the  24th, 
and  the  Mississippi  on  the  1st  of  October,  the  latter 
completing  her  journey  around  the  globe  on  the  23d 
of  April,  1855.  On  the  next  day,  the  Commodore 
repairing  to  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  formally 
hauled  down  his  flag,  and  thus  consummated  the 
final  act  in  the  story  of  the  United  States  Expedition 
to  Japan.  He  now  set  himself  to  work  in  a  hired 
room  in  Washington  to  tell  that  story  in  manuscript. 
Aided  by  Lieutenants  Maury  and  Bent,  secretaries, 
artists,  printers,  and  a  Japanese  lad  as  attendant, 
it  took  shape  in  the  sumptuous  publication  of  three 
richly  illustrated  folio  volumes. 

Though  receiving  no  marked  token  of  respect  from 
the  government,  yet  other  honors  social  and  substan 
tial,  were  not  wanting.  By  the  city  of  New  York  he 
was  presented  with  a  set  of  silver  plate.  The 
merchants  of  Boston  had  a  medal  struck  in  his 


380  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

honor.  The  original  was  presented  to  him  in  gold* 
the  subscribers  receiving  copies  in  silver  and  bronze. 
From  the  city  of  Newport,  his  native  place,  he  was 
tendered  a  reception  by  the  municipal  authorities. 

Little  Rhode  Island,  so  justly  proud  of  her  many 
eminent  sons,  was  not  unmindful  that  the  Perrys 
were  of  her  own  soil.  She  accordingly  summoned 
Matthew  Calbraith  Perry  to  receive  at  the  hands  of 
her  chief  magistrate,  and  in  presence  of  her  legislature, 
a  token  of  her  regard  in  the  form  of  a  solid  silver  sal 
ver  weighing  three  hundred  and  nineteen  ounces,  suit 
ably  chased  and  inscribed.  The  resolutions  of  the 
legislature  ordering  the  token  were  passed  February 
25th  1855. 

An  open  air  ceremony  or  presentation  was  decided 
upon  and  took  place  at  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of 
June  1 5th  upon  the  balcony  in  front  of  the  old  State 
House,  the  legislators  occupying  the  room  within. 
In  response  to  the  governor's  address  Perry,  deeply 
moved,  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

"  It  was  in  my  earliest  boyhood,  before  the  introduction 
of  steamboats  or  railroads,  that  I  often  watched  upon  the 
shore  for  the  first  glimpse  of  the  gaily  decorated  packet- 
sloop,  that  in  those  days  usually  brought  the  governor 
from  Providence  to  this  town,  and  witnessed  with  child 
like  delight,  in  sight  of  this  very  edifice,  the  pomp,  parade 
and  festivities  of  '  Election  Day.'  Since  then  I  have 
traversed  almost  every  part  of  the  globe  in  the  prose 
cution  of  the  duties  of  a  profession  of  which  I  am  justly 

*  See  page  221. 


•R  SALVER  IN  POSSESSION  OF  COMMODORE  PERRY'S  DAUGHTER,  MRS.  AUGUST  BELMONT. 


382  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

proud,  and  now,  after  a  lapse  of  nearly  half  a  century, 
when  declining  in  life,  to  be  called  by  the  representatives 
of  my  native  state  back  to  these  hallowed  precincts,  here  to 
receive  from  the  lips  of  its  Chief  Magistrate  the  commen 
dation  of  my  fellow  citizens,  is  an  honor  I  little  expected 
when  as  a  boy  midshipman,  forty-six  years  ago,  I  first 
embarked  upon  an  element,  then  and  always  the  most  con 
genial  to  my  aspirations  for  honorable  emprise." 

Cherishing  a  keen  remembrance  and  love  of  his 
boyhood's  home,  he  resolved  to  visit  it,  and  also  the 
ancestral  farm  and  cemetery  at  South  Kingston. 
In  a  call  made  upon  one  of  his  earliest  friends  he 
stated  that  his  object  was  to  purchase  the  Perry 
homestead,  which  he  said  would  never  have  gone 
out  of  the  family  if  he  had  not  been  at  sea.  He 
wished  to  erect  a  monument  to  his  grandfather, 
Freeman  Perry. 

While  thus  on  his  native  heather,  the  burly  Com 
modore  would  visit  also  Tower  Hill  where  his  father 
once  lived,  and  his  youngest  sister,  Mrs.  Jane  Butler 
of  South  Carolina,  was  born.  When  offered  a  guide 
he  said  he  thought  he  knew  the  way  better  than  his 
guide.  Every  foot,  indeed,  was  familiar  ground.  Miss 
Orpah  Rose,  in  writing,  March  I5th  1883,  of  this 
visit,  says  further  :  "  I  had  never  seen  the  Commo 
dore  before,  but  had  seen  his  younger  brother  and 
sister.  His  hair,  I  noticed,  was  handsome  and  grew 
well  on  his  forehead.  His  eyes  indicated  thought, 
and,  as  he  turned  them  rather  slowly,  seemed  to  take 
in  or  comprehend  what  he  saw ;  in  manner  he  was 


LAST    LABORS.  383 

easy  and  natural.  As  he  walked  away,  I  saw  that  he 
expressed  character  in  the  manner  he  carried  his 
shoulders.  It  was  a  military  air.  He  looked  as  if  he 
expected  to  do  his  duty  even  if  he  made  sacrifices." 

Resuming  his  literary  tasks  during  the  months  of 
June  and  July,  between  artists  and  engravers,  he 
collected  the  illustrative  matter  for  the  text  of  his  first 
volume.  This,  with  the  first  part  of  the  manuscript 
amounting  to  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  pages,  he  sent 
to  the  printer  on  the  7th  of  August.  He  then  hied 
.away  to  Saratoga  to  forget  the  novel  cares  of  author 
ship  in  drinking  at  the  famed  health-fountains  and 
inhaling  the  air  of  the  Kayaderosseras  hills.  He  found 
much  change  and  some  improvement.  The  hostelry 
of  the  old  Revolutionary  soldier,  Jacobus  Barhyte, 
where  all  the  famous  people  gathered  to  enjoy  the 
host's  famous  fish  dinners,  and  in  whose  groves  Poe 
elaborated  his  poem  of  TJie  Raven,  was  gone,  along 
with  the  well  stocked  preserves  ;  but  in  grander  hotels 
and  on  ampler  porches,  the  gay  throng  chatted  and 
enjoyed  life.  The  Commodore  after  a  ten  day's  stay 
returned  to  New  York,  April  27. 

When  his  first  volume  was  out,  Perry  enjoyed  the 
author's  genuine  delight  of  sending  autograph  pre 
sentation  copies  of  his  book  to  personal  friends  and 
those  most  interested  in  the  Japan  enterprise. 
Among  several  autographs  letters  of  acknowledge 
ment,  is  one  from  Irving  in  which  he  says : — 

"  You  have  gained  for  yourself  a  lasting  name  and  have 
won  it  without  shedding  a  drop  of  blood,  or  inflicting 


384  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

misery  on  a  human  being.     What  naval  commander  ever 
won  laurels  at  such  a  rate  ?" 


This  first  volume  was  afterward  republished  for 
popular  use  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  and  a  smaller 
book  based  upon  it  was  compiled  by  Dr.  Robert  S. 
Tomes  under  the  title  of  "The  Americans  in  Japan." 

The  preparation  of  the  second  volume  required 
great  care.  Here  the  delicate  work  of  specialists 
was  called  in.  Fortunately  Perry  was  sufficiently 
familiar,  by  personal  acquaintance  with  scientific  ex 
perts,  to  easily  find  the  right  men  for  the  right  work. 
On  September  Qth  1856,  Perry  sent  to  the  printers  a 
goodly  portion  of  the  manuscript  of  the  second  vol 
ume,  and  was  pleased  to  find  volume  third  —  the  work 
of  Chaplain  Jones  —  also  in  press.  It  now  looked  as 
if  the  whole  work  would  be  ready  for  delivery  at 
the  next  session  of  Congress.  Ever  conscientious 
in  the  expenditure  of  government  money,  Perry  re 
lieved  his  aids  of  further  service  and  continued  the 
work  alone.  He  read  every  line  of  script  before 
going  to  the  printer,  and  corrected  all  the  proof 
sheets.  We  find  him  writing  December  28th  1856,  to 
Townsend  Harris,  our  consul-general  to  Japan  then 
living  at  Shimoda,  who  was  slowly  but  surely  driv 
ing  in  the  wedge  inserted  by  the  sailor-diplomatist. 

When  in  sight  of  the  consummation  of  his  literary 
enterprise,  February  2d  1857,  Perry  wrote,  "I  have 
been  drawn  into  much  expense  not  to  be  put  into  a 
public  bill,"  ....  "The  greater  portion  of  the 


LAST    LABORS.  385 

labor  has  been  performed  by  myself  and  those  em 
ployed  under  my  direction."  He  sought  help  out 
side  of  the  navy  only  when  it  was  impossible  to  do 
otherwise.  The  completed  work  was  therefore  a 
true  product  of  the  navy.  Dr.  Francis  L.  Hawkes 
wrote  the  preface,  added  a  few  foot  notes  and  here 
and  there  a  sentence,  and  Dr.  Robert  Tomes  pre 
pared  the  introduction,  but  the  narrative  was  of 
Perry's  own  writing.  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  or  some 
other  master  of  letters  might  have  made  a  better  pro 
duct  as  literature,  but  for  history  it  is  well  that  Perry 
told  his  own  story. 

A  set  of  six  superbly  drawn  and  colored  pictures 
of  the  most  striking  scenes  of  the  Japan  Expedition 
was  prepared  for  the  government  archives  and  for 
sending  abroad  for  foreign  rulers  and  cabinets.  They 
were  drawn  by  the  eye-witnesses  Brown  and  Heine,  * 
and  were  executed  in  lithograph  by  Brown  and  Lewis 
of  Albany.  Three  hundred  copies  of  the  set  were 
printed,  and  the  plates  then  destroyed.  Each  set 
was  in  a  portfolio. 

Eighteen  thousand  copies  of  the  Japan  Expedition 
were  published,  at  a  total  cost  of  $360,000.  Fifteen 
thousand  copies  were  given  to  members  of  Congress, 
two  thousand  to  the  Navy  Department  chiefly  for 
distribution  among  the  officers,  and  one  thousand  to 
the  Commodore  of  the  Expedition.  Of  this  thousand, 
Perry  gave  five  hundred  copies  to  Dr.  Hawkes. 

This  was  the  reward  of  a  grateful  republic  ! 


*  Putnam's  Magazine,  August  1856,  pp.  217,  218. 


386  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

During  the  Commodore's  absence  in  Japan,  his 
family  had  lived  at  No.  260  Fourth  avenue,  New 
York  City.  He  now  took  steps  to  secure  a  perma 
nent  home  and  so  purchased  the  house  at  No.  38 
West  32d  street.  The  forty  years  growth  of  the 
metropolis  was  vividly  brought  before  his  mind  when 
on  first  looking  out  of  the  window  of  his  new  home, 
the  old  in  Bloomingdale,  from  which  he  took  his 
bride,  was  in  sight.  His  new  home  stood  on  what 
was  part  of  the  lawn  of  the  old  Slidell  homestead. 

He  became  interested  in  the  work  of  the  American 
Geographical  Society,  and  attended  its  meetings. 
He  prepared  two  papers,  "  Future  Commercial  re 
lations  with  Japan  and  Lew  Chew,  "  (Riu  Kin),  and 
"The  Expediency  of  Extending  Further  Encourage 
ment  to  American  Commerce  in  the  East,  "  which 
were  printed  in  the  society's  journal,  and  excited 
much  interest.  On  the  6th  of  March  1856,  at  a 
crowded  meeting  in  the  chapel  of  the  New  York 
University,  at  which  Perry  was  present,  Rev.  Francis 
L.  Hawkes  read  his  paper,  afterwards  published  in 
pamphlet  form,  on  "The  Enlargement  of  Geographical 
Science,  a  consequence  to  the  opening  of  new  ave 
nues  to  commercial  enterprise."  The  president  of 
Columbia  college,  Charles  King,  in  moving  a  vote  of 
thanks,  spoke  in  high  praise  of  the  merits  and 
polished  literary  style  of  the  essay.  The  prospects 
of  trade,  of  coal,  of  mail-steamers  to  China,  the  new 
avenues  open  to  American  commercial  enterprise, 
and  the  work  of  Christian  missions  heartily  believed 


LAST    LABORS.  387 

in  by  Perry,  were  discussed  by   him  with  clearness, 
strength  and  beauty. 

James  Buchanan  was  inaugurated  President,  and 
Lewis  Cass  became  Secretary  of  State,  March  4th 
1857.  General  James  Watson  Webb  was  eager  to 
have  the  mission  to  China  filled  by  his  friend  Com 
modore  Perry.  He  was  long  held  back  by  Perry's 
modesty  and  refusal  to  give  assent  to  his  friend's 


MEDAL    PRESENTED    BY    THE    MERCHANTS    OF    BOSTON. 

warm  importunity.  After  permission  had  been 
given,  General  Webb  hastened  to  Washington,  but 
was  one  day  too  late.  Less  than  twenty-four  hours 


388  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

before,  the  Hon.  Wm.  B.  Reed  had  received  the  ap 
pointment  as  envoy  to  Peking.  Perry's  fame  as  a 
diplomatist  was  to  be  inseparably  linked  to  Japan 
only. 

General  Webb,  in  speaking  to  the  writer  in  1878 
in  New  York,  said  that  the  regret  of  General  Cass  in 
not  having  known  of  Perry's  willingness  to  go,  and 
that  it  was  too  late,  seemed  very  sincere.  Perry 
had  allowed  his  friends  to  make  the  proposition,  inas 
much  as  great  events  were  about  to  take  place  in 
China  and  he  was  eager  to  advance  American  inter 
ests  in  the  East.  Further,  he  expected  if  he  were 
appointed,  to  have  the  personal  services  of  Dr.  S. 
Wells  Williams  his  old  interpreter  and  friend  whose 
character,  knowledge  and  abilities,  we  know,  consti 
tuted  the  real  power  behind  the  American  Legation 
in  China  from  1858  to  1876. 

On  the  28th  of  December  1857,  Perry  reported 
that  his  work  on  the  book  would  end  with  the  year, 
and  his  office  in  Washington  be  closed.  On  the  3<Dth, 
he  was  detached  from  special  duty  to  await  orders. 
It  was  intimated  to  him  at  the  Department  that  he 
was  to  have  command  of  the  squadron  in  the  Medi 
terranean —  the  American  naval  officers'  paradise, 
when  away  from  home.  To  this  duty  Perry  looked 
forward  with  delight.  Thornton  A.  Jenkins  was  to 
be  his  chief  of  staff.  He  spent  the  pleasant  winter 
in  New  York  enjoying  social  life.*  Early  in  January, 

*  See  "  A  Dinner  at  the  Mayor's,"  Harper's  Magazine,  Octo 
ber  1860. 


LAST    LABORS.  389 

1858,  he  made  a  report  on  the  cause  of  the  loss  of  the 
Central  America,  with  suggestions  for  changes  in  the 
laws  which  should  secure  greater  safety  of  life  and 
property  on  the  ocean.  These  studies,  which  have 
since  borne  good  fruit,  were  with  other  matter  pub 
lished  in  a  pamphlet  of  seven  pages,  January  I5th, 
1858.  His  last  official  services  were  performed  as  a 
member  of  the  Naval  Retiring  Board. 

The  time  was  now  drawing  near  when  this  man  of 
tireless  activity,  who  was  ever  solicitous  about  the 
life  and  safety  of  others,  was  to  part  with  his  own 
life.  The  inroads  upon  a  superb  constitution,  made 
by  constant  work  on  arduous  and  trying  service,  at 
many  stations,  in  two  wars,  in  three  or  four  diplo 
matic  missions,  and  in  protracted  study  so  soon  after 
return  from  Japan,  were  becoming  more  and  more 
manifest.  In  the  raw  weather  of  February  1858,  the 
Commodore  caught  a  severe  cold  which  from  the  first 
gave  indications  of  being  serious.  The  old  torment 
of  rheumatism  developed  itself,  and  yet  not  until  the 
hour  of  his  death  was  he  believed  to  be  in  mortal 
danger.  It  became  manifest,  however,  that  the 
disease,  contracted  thirty-five  years  before,  in  his 
energy  and  anxiety  to  save  life  and  property,  had 
undermined  his  constitution.  Symptoms  of  rheu 
matic  gout  appeared.  One  token  of  organic  change 
was  a  strong  indisposition  to  ascend  elevations  of  any 
sort.  For  four  weeks  he  felt  more  or  less  out  of 
health.  A  change  of  physicians  did  not  better  his 
case.  On  the  4th  of  March  at  midnight,  the  disease, 


3QO  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

leaving  the  region  of  the  stomach,  began  to  assault 
the  citadel,  and  at  2  A.  M.  at  his  home  in  Thirty- 
second  street,  New  York  City,  he  died  of  rheumatism 
of  the  heart. 

His  nephew,  by  marriage  to  the  daughter  of  Com 
modore  Oliver  H.  Perry,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Vin- 
ton,  who  was  with  him  in  his  sickness  says,  "  His  last 
wish  expressed  to  me  was  to  be  buried  by  his  father 
and  mother  and  brother  in  the  old  burial  ground,  to 
mingle  his  dust  with  his  native  soil.  He  even  choose 
his  grave  there." 

At  his  death,  Matthew  Calbraith  Perry  was  third 
on  the  list  of  captains,  having  served  at  sea  twenty- 
five  years  and  three  months,  and  on  other  duties 
nineteen  years.  Since  entering  the  navy  in  1808,  he 
had  been  unemployed  less  than  five  years,  and  had 
completed  a  term  of  service  within  one  year  of  a 
half  century. 

As  a  member  of  numerous  civic  and  scientific  as 
sociations,  as  well  as  President  of  the  Montezuma 
Society,  the  loss  of  Matthew  Perry  was  that  of  a 
citizen  of  broad  tastes,  sympathies,  labors  and  in 
fluences.  The  great  city  offered  profuse  tokens  of 
regard  and  manifestations  of  sorrow.  The  flags  of 
the  shipping  in  the  harbor,  and  on  the  public  build 
ings  and  hotels,  were  flying  at  half-mast  during  three 
days.  It  was  arranged  that  on  Saturday,  in  the 
grave-yard  of  St.  Mark's  church  at  Second  avenue 
and  Tenth  street,  the  hero  should  be  buried  with  ap 
propriate  honors. 


LAST    LABORS. 

The  military  pageant  which  preceded  the  hearse 
consisted  of  five  hundred  men  of  the  Seventh  Regi 
ment,  two  hundred  officers  of  the  First  Division  of 
the  New  York  State  Militia,  followed  by  a  body  of 
United  States  Marines.  The  pall-bearers  included 
the  Governor  of  the  State,  General  Winfield  Scott, 
Commodores  Sloat,  Breese,  McCluney  and  Bigelow, 
and  seven  others,  eminent  and  honored  in  the  various 
fields  of  achievement ;  but  the  most  touching  sight 
was  the  simplest.  The  sailors  who  had  served  under 
Commodore  Perry  in  the  Japan  Expedition  and  the 
Mexican  war,  had  volunteered  on  this  occasion  to  do 
honor  to  their  old  commander.  They  were  the  most 
interesting  among  the  mourners.  Although  engaged 
in  various  pursuits,  in  different  places,  they  all  man 
aged  to  appear  in  the  regular  working  uniform  of  the 
United  States  Navy.  This  they  had  procured  at 
their  own  expense.  They  paraded  under  the  com 
mand  of  Alonzo  Guturoz  and  Philip  Downey.  All 
bore  evidence  of  having  seen  hard  service.  They  at 
tracted  much  attention  as  they  paraded  through  the 
streets,  and  the  simple  music  of  their  fifes  and  drums 
seemed  more  appropriate  and  more  impressive,  than 
even  that  of  the  regimental  band. 

The  route  lay  through  Fifth  Avenue,  Fourteenth 
street,  and  Second  Avenue  to  Saint  Mark's  Church. 

The  sensation  produced  throughout  the  community 
by  the  loss  of  so  illustrious  a  naval  commander  was 
shown  in  the  faces  of  the  crowd.  Despite  the  cold 
weather,  the  people  lined  the  streets  to  see  and  listen 


3Q2  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH     PERRY. 

and  feel.  The  tolling  of  the  church  bells,  and  the 
boom  of  the  minute  guns  rolling  up  from  the  ships 
and  yard  of  the  naval  station,  added  solemnity  to  the 
scene. 

Within  the  church,  the  burial  service  was  con 
ducted  by  the  Rev.  Drs.  Hawks,  Vinton,  Higbee,  and 
Montgomery.  The  anthem  "  Lord  let  me  know  my 
end,"  the  hymn  "I  would  not  Hve  alway,"  and  the 
interlude  "I  heard  a  voice  from  Heaven,"  were  sung, 
moving  all  hearts  by  their  sweetness  and  solemnity. 

The  service  over,  the  coffin  was  carried  out  and 
deposited  in  the  grave  in  the  church-yard  adjoining, 
and  lowered  into  its  last  resting  place.  The  com 
mittal  service  and  prayer  over,  the  marines  fired  the 
three  volleys  of  musketry.  The  weather-beaten  tars 
of  the  Japan  Expedition  took  a  last  look  at  the 
wooden  enclosure  which  contained  all  that  was 
mortal  of  their  beloved  Commander,  and  all  turned 
to  depart.  "  The  sight  of  those  honest  hardy  marines, 
who  had  collected  from  all  quarters,  and  at  great 
personal  inconvenience,  to  pay  this  last  tribute  of 
respect  and  affection  to  one  whom  they  had  once- 
loved  to  obey,  was  interesting  and  suggestive.  One 
almost  expected  to  witness  a  repetition  of  the  scene 
that  occurred  at  the  funeral  of  Lord  Nelson,  and  to 
see  the  stars  and  stripes  that  floated  above  the  grave 
torn  into  shreds  and  kept  as  mementoes  of  the  man 
and  the  occasion  ;  but  their  affection  though  deep 
and  strong  did  not  run  into  the  poetical,  and  the  flag 
remained  whole  and  untouched." 


LAST    LABORS.  393 

In  the  church  of  St.  Nazaro  in  Florence,  may  be 
read  upon  the  tomb  of  a  soldier  the  words  : 

"  Johannes  Divultius,  who  never  rested,  rests  —  Hush  !  " 

That  is  Perry's  real  epitaph. 

The  unresting  one  now  rests  in  the  Isle  of  Peace. 
The  two  brothers,  Perry  of  the  Lakes,  and  Perry  of 
Japan,  sleep  in  God,  near  the  beloved  mother  on 
whose  bosom  they  first  learned  the  worth  of  life, 
whose  memory  they  worshipped  throughout  their 
careers,  and  beside  whose  relics  they  wished  to  lie. 

On  a  hill  in  the  beautiful  Island  cemetery  at  New 
port,  which  overlooks  aboriginal  Aquidneck,  the  City 
and  Isle  of  Peace,  the  writer  found  on  a  visit,  Octo 
ber  30th,  the  family  burying-ground.  In  the  soft 
October  sunlight,  the  sight  compelled* contrast  to  the 
ancestral  God's  acre  in  South  Kingston,  among  whose 
Hchened  stones  of  un wrought  granite  the  Commodore 
proposed  erecting  a  fitting  monument  to  his  fathers. 
Within  the  evergreen  hedge,  in  the  grassy  circle 
ringed  with  granite  and  iron  lay,  on  the  north  side, 
the.  tomb  of  the  Commodore's  grand-daughter,  a 
lovely  maiden  upon  whose  grave  fresh  flowers  are 
laid  yearly  by  the  loving  parent's  hands. 

The  tomb  of  M.  C.  Perry  is  of  marble,  on  a  granite 
base,  with  six  garlands  of  oak  leaves  chiselled  on  it 
and  bearing  the  modest  inscription : 

"  Erected  by  his  widow  to  the  memory  of  Matthew 
Calbraith  Perry,  Commodore  in  the  United  States  Navy, 
Born  April  igth,  1794.  Died  March  the  4th,  1858." 


394  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

On  the  south  side  beneath  and  across,  lies  the  son 
of  the  Commodore  who  bore  his  father's  name : 

"  In  memory  of  Matthew  Calbraith  Perry,  Captain  ir. 
the  U.  S.  Navy.  Died  November  loth,  1848." 

Another  stone  commemorates  his  son  Oliver,  whc 
was  with  his  father  in  China  and  Japan,  and  for  some 
time,  United  States  consul  at  Hong  Kong : 

"  In  memory  of  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  son  of  Matthew 
C.  and  Jane  Perry.  Died  May  lyth,  1870,  aged  45." 

The  Commodore's  widow,  Jane  Slidell  Perry  sur 
vived  her  husband  twenty-one  years  ;  and  died  in 
Newport,  R.  I.,  at  the  home  of  her  youngest  daugh 
ter,  Mrs.  Tiffany,  on  Saturday,  June  14,  1879,  at  the 
age  of  82. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

MATTHEW    PERRY    AS    A    MAN. 

THE  active  life  of  Matthew  Perry  spanned  the 
greater  part  of  our  national  history  "before  the  war." 
He  lived  to  see  the  United  States  grow  from  four  to 
thirty-two  millions  of  people,  and  the  stars  in  her  flag 
from  fifteen  to  thirty-one.  He  sailed  in  many  seas, 
visited  all  the  nations  of  Christendom,  saw  most  of 
the  races  of  the  earth,  and  all  flags  except  that  of  the 
stars  and  bars.  He  saw  the  rise  and  fall  of  many 
types  of  naval  architecture.  He  was  familiar  with 
the  problems  of  armor  and  ordnance,  resistance 
and  penetration,  and  had  studied  those  questions  in 
the  science  of  war,  which  are  not  yet  settled.  He 
had  made  himself  conversant  with  the  arts  auxiliary 
to  his  profession,  and  was  one  of  the  foremost  naval 
men  of  his  generation.  His  personal  importance  was 
far  beyond  his  rank.  He  died  fully  abreast  of  his 
age,  and  looked  far  beyond  it.  Had  he  lived  until 
the  opening  of  "  the  war,"  he  would  have  been  fully 
prepared,  by  alertness  of  mind,  for  the  needs  of  the 
hour,  and  would  doubtless  have  held  high  rank.  He 
was  called  to  rest  from  his  labors  before  feeling  the  be 
numbing  effects  of  old  age.  As  it  was,  his  influence 
was  clearly  traceable  in  the  navy,  and  younger  offi- 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 


cers  carried  out  his  ideas  into  practice,  when  oppor 
tunity  came.  Had  the  United  States,  at  the  opening 
of  the  rebellion  possessed  a  respectable  modern  navy, 
such  as  Perry  labored  for,  the  great  southern  ports 
could  have  been  at  once  sealed  ;  and  that  foreign  aid, 
without  which  the  Confederacy  could  not  have  lived 
six  months,  would  have  been  made  null.  Indeed, 
with  a  first-class  navy,  the  slaveholder's  conspiracy 
could  never  have  been  hatched.  As  it  was,  the  navy 
kept  off  foreign  intervention. 

Despite  the  long  and  brilliant  succession  of  ser 
vices  rendered  his  country,  Matthew  Perry  never  re 
ceived  either  rank  or  reward  beyond  those  of  an 
ordinary  captain. 

The  rank  of  admiral  was  provided  for  in  the  Act 
of  Congress  of  November  I5th,  1776,  and  the  title  of 
admiral  was  conceded  to  Paul  Jones  in  the  corres 
pondence  of  the  State  Department.  Yet  although 
the  original  law,  creating  the  American  navy,  allowed 
the  rank  of  captains  in  three  grades  of  commodore, 
vice-admiral  and  admiral,  there  was  no  legal  title 
higher  than  captain  in  the  United  States  navy  until 
1862  ;  until  Farragut  hoisted  his  flag  at  the  main 
peak  of  the  Hartford  August  I3th,  1862,  as  senior 
rear-admiral  ;  becoming,  July  25th,  1866,  admiral. 
In  compliment  to  his  services  Charles  Stewart  was 
commissioned  senior  flag-officer,  and  at  the  time  of 
Perry's  death,  Stewart  was  senior  to  himself.  Yet 
if  the  title  of  admiral,  prior  to  Farragut,  belongs  to 
any  American  officer  by  virtue  of  largeness  of  fleets 


MATTHEW    PERRY    AS    A    MAN.  397 

commanded,  by  responsibility  of  position,  or  by  re 
sults  achieved,  surely  we  may  speak  as  the  Japanese 
did  of  "Admiral  Perry." 

With  most  of  his  subordinate  officers,  Perry's  re 
lations  were  of  the  pleasantest  nature  compatible 
with  his  own  high  sense  of  duty  and  discipline.  If 
he  erred,  it  was  usually  in  the  right  direction.  Pro 
fessor  Henry  Coppee,  who  was  a  young  officer  in  the 
Mexican  war,  writes,  from  memory,  in  1882  :  — 

"  He  (Perry)  was  a  blunt,  yet  dignified  man,  heavy  and 
not  graceful,  something  of  a  martinet ;  a  duty  man  all 
over,  held  somewhat  in  awe  by  the  junior  officers,  and 
having  little  to  do  with  them ;  seriously  courteous  to 
others.  The  ship  seemed  to  have  a  sense  of  importance 
because  he  was  on  board." 

The  same  gentleman  relates  that  once,  upon  going 
on  board  the  flagship,  the  midshipmen,  with  the 
intent  of  playing  a  practical  joke,  told  him  to  go  to 
Commodore  Perry  and  talk  with  him.  They  ex 
pected  to  see  the  landsman  gruffly  repelled.  The 
tables  were  turned,  when  the  would-be  jokers  saw 
"  the  old  man  "  kindly  welcome  the  young  officer  and 
engage  in  genial  conversation  with  him.  "  I  re 
member,"  adds  Dr.  Coppee,  "  years  afterwards 
when  I  heard  of  what  he  accomplished  in  Japan,  say 
ing  to  myself,  'Well,  he  is  just  the  man  of  whom  I 
should  have  expected  it  all.' ' 

He  had  both  the  qualities  necessary  for  war  and 
for  peaceful  victory.  Though  his  conquests  in  war 


39$  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

and  in  peace,  in  science  and  in  diplomacy,  were 
great,  the  victory  over  himself  was  first,  greatest 
and  most  lasting.  He  always  kept  his  word  and 
spoke  the  truth. 

"  The  Commodore  was  not  a  genial  man  so 
cially.  His  strong  characteristics  were  self-reliance, 
earnestness  of  purpose  and  untiring  industry,  which 
gave  such  impetus  to  his  schemes  as  to  attrac". 
and  carry  with  them  the  support  of  others  lorn; 
after  they  had  passed  out  of  his  own  hands.  I: 
was  the  magnetic  power  of  these  qualities  in  the 
character  of  the  man  that  enlisted  the  services  o.! 
•others  in  behalf  of  his  purposes,  and  not  any  specia1 
amenities  of  manner  or  sympathies  of  temperament, 
that  drew  them  lovingly  toward  him.  And  yet. 
under  this  austere  exterior,  which  seemed  intent 
only  upon  the  performance  of  cold  duty,  as  duty, 
he  had  a  kind  and  gentle  nature  that  in  domestic 
life  was  an  ornament  to  him.  Never  afraid  of  re 
sponsibility  in  matters  of  official  duty,  he  was 
ever  on  the  alert  to  seek  employment  when  others 
hesitated.  He  was  bluff,  posit ive  and  stern  on 
duty,  and  a  terror  to  the  ignorant  and  lazy,  but 
the  faithful  ones  who  performed  their  duties  with 
intelligence  and  zeal  held  him  in  the  highest  esti 
mation,  for  they  knew  his  kindness  and  considera 
tion  of  them."  * 

He  was  not  inclined  to  allow  nonsense  and  cruel 
practical  jokes  among  the  midshipmen,  and  could 


*  Silas  Bent,  U.  S.  N. 


MATTHEW    PERRY    AS    A    MAN.  399 

easily  see  when  a  verdant  new  comer  was  being  im 
posed  upon,  or  an  old  officer's  personal  feelings  hurt 
by  thoughtless  youth.  The  father  of  a  certain  cap 
tain  in  the  Mexican  war,  whose  record  was  highly 
;  honorable,  was  reputed  to  have  handled  the  razor  for 
a  livelihood.  The  young,  officers  knowing  or  hear 
ing  of  this,  delighted  occasionally  to  slip  fragments 
of  combs,  old  razors,  etc.,  under  his  cabin  door. 
Perry,  angry  at  this,  treated  him  with  marked  con 
sideration. 

He  was  far  from  being  entirely  deficient  in  hu 
mor,  and  often  enjoyed  fun  at  the  right  time.  At 
home,  amid  his  children  and  friends,  he  enjoyed 
making  his  children  laugh.  Being  a  fair  player  on 
the  flute,  he  was  an  adept  in  those  lively  tunes 
which  kept  the  children  in  gleeful  mood.  Even  on 
the  quarter-deck  and  in  the  cabin,  he  was  merry 
enough  after  his  object  had  been  attained.  The 
usual  tenor  of  his  life  was  that  of  expectancy  and 
alertness  to  attain  a  purpose.  Hence,  the  tense  set 
of  his  mind  only  occasionally  relaxed  to  allow  mirth. 
Captain  Odell  says,  "He  was  not  a  very  jolly  or 
joking  man,  but  pleasant  and  agreeable  in  his  man 
ners,  and  respected  by  all  who  had  intercourse  with 
him."  The  moral  element  of  character,  which  is 
usually  associated  with  habitual  seriousness  in  men 
who  aspire  to  be  founders,  educators  or  leaders,  was 
very  marked  in  Matthew  Perry. 

The  impressions  of  a  young  person  or  subordinate 
officer,  will,  of  course,  differ  from  those  formed  in 


4OO  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH     PERRY. 

later  life,  and  from  other  points  of  view.     We  give 
a  few  of  both  kinds  :  — 

"  His  many  excellent  qualities  of  heart  and  head  were 
encased  in  a  rough  exterior.  '  I  remember/  says  <i 
daughter  of  Captain  Adams,  'when  I  was  a  little  girl  a: 
Sharon  Springs,  being  impressed  by  a  singular  directness 
of  purpose  in  the  man.  I  used  to  like  to  watch  him  go 
into  the  crowded  drawing-room.  He  would  stand  at  the 
door,  survey  the  tangled  scene,  find  his  objective  point, 
and  march  straight  to  it  over  and  through  the  confusion  ou 
ladies,  children  and  furniture,  never  stopping  till  he 
reached  there.  He  was  a  man  of  great  personal  bravery, 
as  were  all  the  Perrys,  of  undoubted  courage  and  gal 
lantry,  bluff  in  his  manners,  but  most  hearty  and  warm 
in  feelings,  and  with  that  genuine  kindness  which  im 
presses  at  the  moment  and  leaves  its  mark  on  the  mem 
ory.  Children  instinctively  liked  the  big  and  bluff  hero. 
As  a  friend  he  was  most  true  and  constant,  and  his  friend 
ship  was  always  to  be  relied  on.'  " 

"  Such  was  the  vein  and  character  of  the  man,  that  the 
impression  he  made  on  my  mind  and  affections  was  such 
as  to  make  me  desirous  of  following  him  to  the  cannon's 
mouth,  or  wherever  the  fortunes  of  peace  or  war  should 
appoint  our  steps." 

["  He  was  an  intense  navy  man,  always  had  the  honor 
of  the  navy  at  heart,  and  lost  no  opportunity  to  impress 
this  feeling  upon  the  officers  of  his  command. "f 

"  I  have  no  unfavorable  recollections  of  Commodore 
Perry.  On  the  contrary,  I  think  he  was  one  of  the 
greatest  of  our  naval  commanders.  He  had  brains,  cour- 

*  Rear-Admiral  Joshua  R.   Sands,  U.  S.  N. 
f  Rear-Admiral  John  Almy,  U.  S.  N. 


MATTHEW    PERRY    AS    A    MAN.  4OI 

age,  industry  and  rare  powers  of  judging  character,  and  I 
believe  he  would  not  have  spared  his  own  son  had  he 
been  a  delinquent.  He  seemed  to  have  no  favorites  but 
those  who  did  their  duty.'" 

"  I  consider  that  Commodore  Matthew  C.  Perry  was  one 
of  the  finest  officers  we  ever  had  in  our  navy  —  far  su 
perior  to  his  brother  Oliver.  He  had  not  much  ideality 
about  him,  but  he  had  a  solid  matter-of-fact  way  of  doing 
things  which  pleased  me  mightily.  He  was  one  of  the 
last  links  connecting  the  old  navy  with  the  new.  f  " 

He  seemed  never  idle  for  one  moment  of  his  life. 
When  abroad,  off  duty  he  was  remembering  those  at 
home.  He  brought  back  birds,  monkeys,  pets  and 
curiosities  for  the  children.  He  collected  shells  in 
great  quantities,  and  was  especially  careful  to  get  rare 
and  characteristic  specimens.  With  these,  on  his  re 
turn  home,  he  would  enrich  the  museums  at  Newport, 
Brooklyn,  New  York  and  other  places. 

As  he  never  knew  when  to  stop  work,  there  were, 
of  course,  some  under  his  command  who  did  not  like 
him  or  his  ways. 

In  the  matter  si  pecuniary  responsibility,  Perry  was 
excessively  sensitive,  with  a  hatred  of  debt  bordering 
on  the  morbid.  This  feeling  was  partly  because  of 
his  high  ideal  of  what  a  naval  officer  ought  to  be, 
and  partly  because  he  feared  to  do  injustice  to  the 
humblest  creditor.  He  believed  a  naval  officer,  as  a 
servant  of  the  United  States  Government,  ought  to 


*  Engineer  John  Follansbee. 

t  D.  D.  Porter,  Admiral  U.  S.  Navy. 


4O2  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

be  as  chivalrous,  as  honest,  as  just  and  lovely  in 
character  to  a  bootblack  or  a  washerwoman  as  to  n 
jewelled  lady  or  a  titled  nobleman.  His  manly  in 
dependence  began  when  a  boy,  and  never  degen 
erated  as  he  approached  old  age,  despite  the  annoy 
ances  from  the  law  suits  brought  upon  him  by  his 
devotion  to  duty  regardless  of  personal  consequences. 
He  refused  to  accept  the  suggestion  of  assistance 
from  any  individual,  believing  it  was  the  Govern 
ment's  business  to  shield  him. 

In  reply  to  an  allusion,  by  a  friend,  when  harassed 
by  the  lawsuit,  to  the  pecuniary  assistance  he  might 
expect  from  a  relative  by  marriage,  he  replied,  "  I 
would  dig  a  hole  in  the  earth  and  bury  myself  in  it, 
before  I  would  seek  such  assistance." 

He  had  a  great  horror  of  debt,  of  officers  contract 
ing  debts  without  considering  their  inability  to  pay 
them.  He  often  lectured  and  warned  young  officers 
about  this  important  matter. 

Under  date  of  Nov.  i6th,  1841,  we  find  a  long 
letter  from  him  to  Captain  Gregory  of  the  North 
Carolina  concerning  midshipmen's  debts.  He  blames 
not  so  much  "  the  boys  "  as  Mr.  D.  (the  purser),  who 
indulged  them,  for  "  a  practice  utterly  at  variance  with 
official  rectitude  and  propriety,  and  alike  ruinous  to 
the  prospects  of  the  young  officer."  He  insists  that 
the  middies  must  be  kept  to  their  duties  and  studies, 
and  their  propensity  to  visit  shore  and  engage  in  un 
suitable  expenses  be  restrained. 

In  ordinary  social   life,  and   in   council,    Perry  ap- 


MATTHEW    PERRY    AS    A    MAN.  403 

peared  at  some  disadvantage.  He  often  hesitated 
for  the  proper  word,  and  could  not  express  himself 
with  more  than  the  average  readiness  of  men  who 
are  not  trained  conversers  or  public  speakers.  With 
the  pen,  however,  he  wrought  his  purpose  with  ease 
and  power.  His  voluminous  correspondence  in  the 
navy  archives  and  in  the  cabinets  of  friends,  show 
Matthew  Perry  a  master  of  English  style.  A  faulty 
sentence,  a  slip  in  grammar,  a  misspelling,  is  exceed 
ingly  rare  in  his  manuscript.  From  boyhood  he 
studied  Addison  and  other  masters  of  English  prose. 
In  his  younger  days  especially,  he  exercised  himself 
in  reproducing  with  the  pen  what  he  had  read  in 
print.  He  thus  early  gained  a  perspicuous,  flowing 
style,  to  which  every  page  of  his  book  on  the  Japan 
Expedition  bears  witness.  Like  Caesar,  he  wrote 
his  commentaries  in  the  third  person.  Perry  him 
self  is  the  author  of  that  classic  in  American  ex 
ploration  and  diplomacy.  Others  furnished  preface, 
introduction,  index,  and  notes,  but  Matthew  Perry 
wrote  the  narrative.* 

He  rarely  wrote  his  name  in  full,  his  autograph  in 
early  life  being  Matthew  C.  Perry ;  and  later,  al 
most  invariably,  M.  C.  Perry.  In  this  he  affected 
the  style  neither  of  the  fathers  of  the  navy  nor  of 
the  republic,  who  abbreviated  the  first  name  and 
added  a  colon. 


*  Rev.  Dr.  Vinton's  Oration  at  Perry  Statue,  Newport,  Oct. 
2nd,  1868.  Letters  of  Dr.  Robert  Tomes  and  John  Hone,  New 
York  Times,  October  1868. 


404  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

It  was  the  belief  of  Matthew  Perry  that  the  Bible 
contained  the  will  of  God  to  man,  and  furnished  a 
manual  of  human  duty.  It  was  his  fixed  habit  to 
peruse  this  word  of  God  daily.  On  every  long  cruise 
he  began  the  reading  of  the  whole  Bible  in  course. 

Rear-Admiral  Almy  says  :  One  pleasant  Sunday 
afternoon  in  the  month  of  April,  1845,  anc^  on  the 
way  home  by  way  of  the  West  Indies,  I  was  officer 
of  the  deck  of  the  frigate  Macedonian,  sailing  along 
quietly  in  a  smooth  sea  in  the  tropics,  nearing  the 
land  and  a  port.  The  Commodore  came  upon  deck, 
and  towards  me  where  I  was  standing,  and  remarked  : 
"  I  have  just  finished  the  Bible.  I  have  read  it 
through  from  Genesis  to  Revelation.  I  make  it  a 
point  to  read  it  through  every  cruise.  It  is  certainly 
a  remarkable  book,  a  most  wonderful  book."  As  he 
uttered  these  words,  the  look-out  aloft  cried  "  Land 
O  !  "  which  diverted  his  attention,  perhaps,  or  he 
would  have  continued  with  further  remarks. 

"  Perry,"  writes  another  rear-admiral,  "  was  a  man 
of  most  exemplary  habits,  though  not  perhaps  a  com 
municant  of  any  church,  and  upright,  and  full  of 
pride  of  country  and  profession,  with  no  patience 
or  consideration  for  officers  who  felt  otherwise." 

Keenly  enjoying  the  elements  of  worship  in  divine 
service,  he  was  also  a  student  of  the  Book  of  Corn 
mon  Prayer.  His  own  private  copy  of"  this  manual 
of  devotion  was  well  marked,  showing  his  personal 
appreciation  of  its  literary  and  spiritual  merits. 
Often,  in  the  absence  of  a  chaplain,  he  read  service 


MATTHEW    PERRY    AS    A    MAN. 


405 


himself.  Of  the  burial  service,  he  says  it  is  "  the 
English  language  in  its  noblest  form." 

He  enjoyed  good  preaching,  but  never  liked  the 
sermon  to  be  too  long.  "The  unskilled  speaker," 
says  the  Japanese  proverb,  "is  long-winded."  The 
parson  was  encouraged  not  to  tire  his  hearers,  or  to 
cultivate  the  gift  of  continuance  to  the  wearing  of 
the  auditor's  flesh.  In  flagrant  cases,  the  Commodore 
usually  made  it  a  point  to  clear  his  usually  healthy 
throat  so  audibly  that  the  hint  was  taken  by  the 
chaplain.  In  his  endeavor  to  be  fair  to  both  speaker 
and  hearers,  Perry  had  little  patience  with  either 
Jack  Tar  or  Shoulder  Straps  who  shirked  the  duty  of 
punctuality,  or  shocked  propriety  by  making  exit 
precede  benediction.  When  leave  was  taken,  during 
sermon,  with  noise  or  confusion,  the  unlucky  wight 
usually  heard  of  it  afterwards.  While  at  the  Brooklyn 
Navy  Yard,  Perry  had  the  old  chapel  refurnished, 
secured  a  volunteer  choir,  and  a  piano,  and  so  gave 
his  personal  encouragement,  that  the  room  was  on 
most  occasions  taxed  beyond  its  capacity  with  willing 
worshippers.  When  in  1842,  the  ships  fitted  out  at 
the  yard  were  supplied  with  bibles  at  the  cost  of  the 
government,  Perry  wrote  of  his  gratification  :  "  The 
mere  cost  of  these  books,  fifty  cents  each,  is  nothing 
to  the  moral  effect  which  such  an  order  will  have  in 
advancing  the  character  of  the  service." 

Perry  manifested  a  reverence  for  the  Lord's  Day 
which  was  sincere  and  profound.  He  habitually 
kept  Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest  and  worship,  for 


4O6  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

himself  and  his  men.  Only  under  the  dire  pressure 
of  necessity,  would  he  allow  labor  or  battle  to  take 
place  on  that  day.  In  the  presence  of  Africans, 
Mexicans  and  Japanese,  of  equals,  or  of  races 
reckoned  inferior  to  our  own,  Perry  was  never 
ashamed  or  afraid  to  exemplify  his  creed  in  this 
matter,  or  to  deviate  from  the  settled  customs  of  his 
New  England  ancestry.  Japan  to-day  now  owns  and 
honors  the  day  kept  sacred  by  the  American  com 
modore  and  squadron  on  their  entrance  in  Yedo  Bay. 
With  chaplains,  the  clerical  members  of  the  naval 
households,  Perry's  relations  were  those  of  sympathy, 
cordiality  and  appreciation.  About  the  opening  of 
the  century,  chaplains  were  ranked  as  officers,  and 
divine  service  was  made  part  of  the  routine  of  ship 
life  on  Sundays.  The  average  moral  and  intellectual 
grade  of  the  men  who  drew  pay,  and  were  rated  as 
"chaplains"  in  the  United  States  Navy,  was  not 
very  high  until  1825,  when  a  new  epoch  began  under 
the  Honorable  Samuel  L.  Southard.  This  worthy 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  established  the  rule  that  none 
but  accredited  ministers  of  the  gospel,  in  cordial 
relations  with  some  ecclesiastical  body,  should  be 
appointed  naval  chaplains.  From  this  time  onward, 
with  rare  exceptions,  those  holding  sacred  office  on 
board  American  men-of-war  have  adorned  and  digni 
fied  their  calling.  Until  the  time  of  Perry's  death, 
there  had  been  about  eighty  chaplains  commissioned. 
With  such  men  as  Charles  E.  Stewart,  Walter  Colton, 
George  Jones,  Edmund  C.  Bittenger,  Fitch  W.  Tay- 


MATTHEW    PERRY     AS    A    MAN.  4O/ 

lor,  Orville  Dewey,  and  Mason  Noble, —  whose  liter 
ary  fruits  and  fragrant  memories  still  remain  —  Perry 
always  entertained  the  highest  respect,  and  often 
manifested  personal  regard.  For  those,  however,  in 
whom  the  clerical  predominated  over  the  human,  and 
mercenary  greed  over  unselfish  love  of  duty,  or  who 
made  pretensions  to  sacerdotal  authority  over  intel 
lectual  freedom,  or  whose  characters  fell  below  their 
professions,  the  feelings  of  the  bluff  sailor  were  those 
of  undisguised  contempt. 

We  note  the  attitude  of  Perry  toward  the  great  en 
terprise  founded  on  the  commission  given  by  Jesus 
Christ  to  His  apostles  to  make  disciples  of  all  nations. 
Naval  men,  as  a  rule,  do  not  heartily  sympathize 
with  Christian  missionaries.  The  causes  of  this 
alienation  or  indifference  are  not  far  to  seek,  nor  do 
they  reflect  much  credit  upon  the  naval  profession. 
Apart  from  moral  considerations,  the  man  of  the 
deck,  bred  in  routine  and  precedent  is  not  apt  to  take 
a  wide  view  on  any  subject  that  lies  beyond  his 
moral  horizon.  Nor  does  his  association  with  the 
men  of  his  own  race  at  the  ports,  in  club  or  hong, 
tend  to  enlarge  his  view.  Nor,  on  the  other  hand, 
does  the  naval  man  always  meet  the  shining  types  of 
missionary  character.  Despite  these  facts,  there 
are  in  the  navy  of  the  United  States  many  noble 
spirits,  gentlemen  of  culture  and  private  morals,  who 
are  hearty  friends  of  the  American  missionary. 
Helpful  and  sympathetic  with  all  who  adorn  a  noble 
and  unselfish  calling,  they  judge  with  charity  those 


408  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

less  brilliant  in  record  or  winsome  in  person.  Perry's 
attitude  was  ever  that  of  kindly  sympathy  with  the 
true  missionary.  With  the  very  few  who  degraded 
their  calling,  or  to  those  who  expected  any  honor 
beyond  that  which  their  private  character  commanded, 
he  was  cool  or  even  contemptuous.  He  had  met  and 
personally  honored  many  men  and  women  who,  in 
Africa,  Greece,  the  Turkish  Empire,  and  China,  make 
the  American  name  so  fragrant  abroad.  In  the  ripe 
ness  of  his  experience,  he  took  genuine  pleasure  in 
penning  these  words:  " Though  a  sailor  from  boy 
hood,  yet  I  may  be  permitted  to  feel  some  interest 
in  the  work  of  enlightening  heathenism,  and  impart 
ing  a  knowledge  of  that  revealed  truth  of  God,  which 
I  fully  believe  advances  man's  progress  here,  and 
gives  him  his  only  safe  ground  of  hope  for  hereafter.* 
To  Christianize  a  strange  people,  the  first  important 
step  should  be  to  gain  their  confidence  and  respect 
by  means  practically  honest,  and  in  every  way  con 
sistent  with  the  precepts  of  our  holy  religion."  Of 
the  Japanese  people,  he  wrote  :  "  Despite  prejudice^ 
their  past  history  and  wrongs,  they  will  in  time 
listen  with  patience  and  respectful  attention  to  the 
teachings  of  our  missionaries,"  for  they  are,  as  he 
considered,  "  in  most  respects,  a  refined  and  rational 
people." 

How  grandly  Perry's  prophecy  has    been   fulfilled, 
all  may  see  in  Christian  Japan  of  the  year  1887. 

*  Paper   read    before   the    American    Geographical    Society, 
March  6th,  1856. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

WORKS    THAT    FOLLOW. 

THE  momentum  of  Perry's  long  and  active  life  left 
a  force  which,  a  generation  after  his  death,  is  yet  un 
spent.  He  rests  from  his  labors,  but  his  works  do 
follow  him.  His  thoughts  have  been  wrought  to 
wards  completion  by  others. 

The  opening  of  Japan  to  foreign  commerce  and 
residence,  and  ultimately  to  full  international  inter 
course,  occupied  his  brain  until  the  day  of  his 
death.  His  interest  did  not  flag  for  a  moment.  What 
we  see  in  New  Japan  to-day  is  more  the  result  of  the 
influence  of  Matthew  Perry  and  the  presence  of 
Townsend  Harris,  than  of  the  fear  of  British  arma 
ments  in  China.  English  writers  have  copied,  even 
as  late  as  1883,*  the  statement  of  Captain  Sherard 
Osbornf  and  the  London  Times,\  that  "  as  soon 
as  the  Tientsin  Treaty  was  arranged,  the  American 
commodore  [Tatnall]  rushed  off  to  Japan  to  take 
advantage  of  the  consternation  certain  to  be  created 
by  the  first  news  of  recent  events  in  the  Peiho.  It 

*  Young  Japan,  J.  R.  Black. 

t  A  Cruise  in  Japan  waters,  and  Japan  fragments. 

I  November  ist,  1859. 


4IO  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

was  smartly  imagined."  We  propose  to  give  a 
plain  story  of  the  facts. 

Townsend  Harris  the  United  States  Consul  at 
Ningpo,  China,  was  appointed  July  3ist,  1855,  by 
President  Pierce,  Consul-General  to  Japan.  No  more 
fortunate  selection  could  have  been  made.  By  ex 
perience  and  travel,  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
human  nature  and  especially  the  oriental  and  semi- 
civilized  phases  of  it,  Mr.  Harris  possessed  the 
"  dauntless  courage,  patience,  courtesy,  gentleness, 
firmness  and  incorruptible  honesty"  needed  to  deal 
with  just  such  yakunin  or  men  of  political  business, 
as  the  corrupt  and  decaying  dynasty  of  Yedo  usurpers 
naturally  produced.  Further,  he  had  a  kindly  feel 
ing  towards  the  Japanese  people.  Best  of  all,  he 
was  armed  with  the  warnings,  advice  and  suggestions 
of  Perry,  whom  he  had  earnestly  consulted. 

Ordered,  September  8th,  1855,  by  President  Pierce 
to  follow  up  Captain  Edmund  Robert's  work  and 
make  a  treaty  with  Siam,  Mr.  Harris  after  conclud 
ing  his  business,  boarded  the  San  Jacinto  at  Pulo 
Pinang,  and  arrived  in  Shimoda  harbor,  August  22d, 
1856.  The  propeller  steamer  was  brought  to  safe 
anchorage  by  a  native  pilot  who  bore  a  commission 
printed  on  "The  Japan  Expedition  Press,"  and  signed 
by  Commodore  Perry.  The  stars  and  stripes  were 
hoisted  to  the  peak  of  the  flag-staff  raised  by  the 
San  Jacinto  s  carpenters  on  the  afternoon  of  Septem 
ber  3cl.  Then  in  his  quiet  quarters  at  Kakisaki,  or 
Oyster  Point,  Mr.  Harris,  following  out  Perry's  plan 


WORKS    THAT    FOLLOW.  4!  I 

of  diplomatic  campaign,  won  alone  and  unaided,  after 
fourteen  months  of  perseverance,  a  magnificent  vic 
tory.  Lest  these  statements  seem  inaccurate  we 
reprint  Mr.  Harris'  letter  in  full. 

U.  S.  CONSULATE  GENERAL,  SIMODA, 

October  2j, 


MY  DEAR  COMMODORE  PERRY,  —  Your  kind  favor  of 
December  28th  1856,  did  not  come  to  hand  until  the  2oth 
inst.,  as  I  was  fourteen  months  at  this  place  without  re 
ceiving  any  letters  or  information  from  the  United  States. 
The  U.  S.  sloop  of  war  Portsmouth  touched  here  on  the 
8th  of  last  month,  but  she  did  not  bring  me  any  letters  ; 
her  stay  here  was  very  short,  just  enough  to  enable  me  to 
finish  my  official  letter;  had  time  permitted  I  would  have 
written  to  you  by  her. 

I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  good  advice  ;  it  was 
both  sound  and  well  timed  advice,  and  I  have  found  every 
one  of  your  opinions,  as  to  the  course  the  Japanese  would 
pursue  with  me,  prove  true  to  the  letter. 

Early  last  March  I  made  a  convention  with  the  Japa 
nese  which,  among  other  provisions,  secured  the  right  of 
permanent  residence  to  Americans  at  Simoda  and  Hako- 
dadi,  admits  a  Consul  at  Hakodadi,  opens  Nagasaki,  set 
tled  the  currency  question,  and  the  dollar  now  passes  for 
4670  cash  instead  of  1600,  and  lastly  admits  the  enterri- 
toriality  of  all  Americans  in  Japan.  It  was  a  subject  of 
deep  regret  to  me  that  I  was  not  able  to  send  this  con 
vention  to  the  State  Department  until  quite  six  months 
after  it  had  been  agreed  on. 

In  October  1856,  I  wrote  to  the  Council  of  State  at 
Yedo  that  I  was  the  bearer  of  a  friendlv  letter  from  the 


412  MATTHEW    CALBRA1TH    PERRY. 

President  of  the  United  States  addressed  to  the  Emperor 
of  Japan,  and  that  I  had  some  important  matter  to  com 
municate  which  greatly  concerned  the  honor  and  welfare  of 
Japan.  I  desire  the  Council  to  give  orders  for  my  proper 
reception  on  the  road  from  this  to  Yeclo,  and  to  inform  me 
when  those  arrangements  were  completed.  For  full  ten 
months  the  Japanese  used  every  possible  expedient  to  get 
me  to  deliver  the  letter  at  Simoda,  and  to  make  my  commu 
nications  to  the  Governors  of  this  place.  I  steadily  refused 
to  do  either,  and  at  last  they  have  yielded  and  1  shall 
start  for  Yedo  some  time  next  month.  I  am  to  have  an 
audience  of  the  Emperor,  and  at  that  time  I  am  to 
deliver  the  letter. 

I  am  satisfied  that  no  commercial  treaty  can  be  made  by 
negotiations  carried  on  any  where  but  at  Yedo,  unless 
the  negotiator  is  backed  up  by  a  powerful  fleet. 

I  hope  when  at  Yedo  to  convince  the  government  that 
it  is  impossible  for  them  to  continue  their  present  system 
of  non-intercourse,  and  that  it  will  be  for  their  honor  and 
interest  to  yield  to  argument  rather  than  force. 

I  do  not  expect  to  accomplish  all  that  I  desire  on  this 
occasion,  but  it  will  be  a  great  step  in  the  way  of  direct 
negotiations  with  the  Council  of  the  State,  and  the  be 
ginning  of  a  train  of  enlightenment  of  the  Japanese  that 
will  sooner  or  later  lead  them  to  desire  to  open  the 
country  freely  to  intercourse  with  foreign  nations. 

I  have  just  obtained  a  copy  of  your  "  Expedition  to 
Japan  and  the  China  Seas,"  and  have  read  it  with  intense 
interest.  I  hope  it  is  no  vanity  in  me  to  say  that  no  one 
at  present  can  so  well  appreciate  and  do  justice  to  your 
work  as  I  can. 

You  seem  at  once  and  almost  intuitively  to  have 
adopted  the  best  of  all  courses  with  the  Japanese.  I  am 


WORKS    THAT    FOLLOW.  413 

sure  no  other  course  would  have  resulted  so  well.  I  have 
seen  quite  a  number  of  Japanese  who  saw  you  when  you 
were  at  Siinoda  and  they  all  made  eager  inquiries  after 
you.  M —  -  Y—  —  is  at  Simoda,  and  has  not  forgotten 
the  art  of  lying. 

Please  present  my  respectful  compliments  to  Mrs. 
Perry  and  to  the  other  members  of  your  family,  and 
believe 

Yours  most  sincerely, 

TOWNSEND    HARRIS. 

As  Perry  predicted,  the  Japanese  yielded  to  Mr. 
Harris5  who,  a  few  days  after  he  had  sent  the  letter 
given  above,  went  to  Yedo,  and  had  audience  of  the 
Sho-gun  lyesada.  He  afterwards  saw  the  ministers 
of  state,  and  presented  his  demands.  These  were  : 
Unrestricted  trade  between  Japanese  and  American 
merchants  in  all  things  except  bullion  and  grain,  the 
closing  of  Shimoda  and  the  opening  of  Kanagawa 
and  Ozaka,  the  residence  in  Yedo  of  an  American 
minister,  the  sending  of  an  embassy  to  America,  and 
a  treaty  to  be  ratified  in  detail  by  the  government  of 
Japan. 

Professor  Hayashi  was  first  sent  to  Kioto,  to  obtain 
the  Mikado's  consent.  As  he  had  negotiated  the 
first  treaty  it  was  thought  that  with  his  experience, 
scholarly  ability  and  eminent  character,  he  would  be 
certain  to  win  success,  if  anyone  could.  Despite  his 
presence  and  entreaties,  the  imperial  signature  and 
pen-seal  were  not  given  ;  and  Hotta,  a  daimio,  was 


414    '  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

then  despatched  on  the  same  mission.  The  delay 
caused  by  the  opposition  of  the  conservative  element 
at  the  imperial  capital  was  so  prolonged,  that  Mr. 
Harris  threatened  if  an  answer  was  not  soon  forth 
coming,  to  go  to  Kioto  himself  and  arrange  matters. 
The  American  envoy  was  getting  his  eyes  opened. 
He  began  to  see  that  the  throne  and  emperor  were 
in  Kioto,  the  camp  and  lieutenant  at  Yedo.  The 
"Tycoon"  —  despite  all  the  pomp  and  fuss  and  cir 
cumlocution  and  lying  sham  —  was  an  underling. 
Only  the  Mikado  was  supreme.  Quietly  living  in 
Yedo,  Mr.  Harris  bided  his  time.  Hotta  returned 
from  his  fruitless  mission  to  Kioto  late  in  April 
1858  ;  but  meanwhile  li,  a  man  of  vigor  and  courage, 
though  perhaps  somewhat  unscrupulous,  was  made 
Tairo  or  regent,  and  virtual  ruler  in  Yedo.  With 
him  Mr.  Harris  renewed  his  advances,  and  before 
leaving  Yedo,  in  April  1858,  secured  a  treaty  grant 
ing  in  substance  all  the  American's  demands.  This 
instrument  was  to  be  signed  and  executed  Septem 
ber  ist,  1858.  li  hoped  by  that  time  to  obtain  the 
imperial  consent.  A  sub-treaty,  secret,  but  signed 
by  the  premier  li  and  Mr.  Harris,  binding  them  to 
the  execution  of  the  main  treaty  on  the  day  of  its 
date,  was  also  made,  and  copies  were  held  by  both 
parties.  *  This  diplomacy  was  accomplished  by  Mr. 


*  Commodore  Tatnall  told  this  to  Gideon  Nye.  See  Mr.  Nje's 
letter,  January  31  st,  1859,  to  the  H°ng  Kong  Times  ;  reprinted 
in  pamphlet  form  Macao,  March  22,  1864. 


WORKS    THAT    FOLLOW.  415 

Harris,  when  he  had  been  for  many  months  without 
news  from  the  outside  world,  and  knew  nothing  of 
the  British  campaign  in  China. 

Meanwhile  Flag-Officer  Josiah  Tatnall,  under  or 
der  of  the  United  States  Navy  Department,  was  on 
his  way  to  Japan,  to  bring  letters  and  dispatches  to 
the  American  Consul-general,  was  ignorant  of  Mr. 
Harris'  visit  to  Yedo,  or  his  new  projects  for  treaty- 
making.  On  the  Powhatan  he  left  Shanghai  July 
5th,  joining  the  Mississippi  at  Nagasaki  five  days 
later.  Here  the  death  of  Commodore  Perry  was  an 
nounced,  the  Japanese  receiving  the  news  with  ex 
pressions  of  sincere  regret.  The  Treaty  at  Tientsin 
had  been  signed  June  26,  but  Tatnall,  innocent  of  the 
notions  of  later  manufacture,  so  diligently  ascribed 
to  him  of  rushing  "  off  to  Japan  to  take  advantage  of 
the  consternation  certain  to  be  created  by  the  first 
news  of  recent  events  in  the  Peiho,  "...  was  so  far 
oblivious  of  any  further  intentions  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Harris  of  making  another  treaty  with  Japan,  that  he 
lingered  in  the  lovely  harbor  until  the  2ist  of  July. 
In  the  Powhatan  he  cast  anchor  in  Shimoda  harbor, 
on  the  25th,  the  Mississippi  having  arrived  two  days 
before.  On  the  2/th,  taking  Mr.  Harris  on  board  the 
Powhatan,  Tatnall  steamed  up  to  Kanagawa,  visiting 
also  Yokohoma,  where  Perry's  old  treaty-house  was 
still  standing.  Meeting  li  on  the  2Qth,  negotiations 
were  re-opened.  In  Commodore  Tatnall's  presence, 
the  main  treaty  was  dated  July  2Qth  (instead  of 
September  ist)  and  to  this  the  premier  li  affixed  his 


4l6  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

signature,  and  pen-seal.  By  this  treaty  Yokohoma 
was  to  be  opened  to  foreign  trade  and  residence  July 
ist  of  the  following  year,  1859,  anc^  an  embassy  was 
to  be  sent  to  visit  the  United  States.  The  Commo 
dore  and  Consul-general  returned  to  Shimoda  August 
ist.  Mr.  Harris  then  took  a  voyage  of  recreation  to 
China. 

On  the  3Oth  of  June  1859,  tne  consulate  of  the 
United  States  was  removed  from  Shimoda  to  Kana- 
gawa,  where  the  American  flag  was  raised  at  the 
consulate  July  ist.  The  Legation  of  the  United 
States  was  established  in  Yedo  July  7,  1859.  Amid 
dense  crowds  of  people,  and  a  party  of  twenty-three  * 
Americans,  Mr.  Harris  was  escorted  to  his  quarters 
in  a  temple. 

The  regent  li  carried  on  affairs  in  Yedo  with  a 
high  hand,  not  only  signing  treaties  without  the 
Mikado's  assent,  but  by  imprisoning,  exiling,  and 
ordering  to  decapitation  at  the  blood-pit,  his  political 
opposers.  Among  those  who  committed  hara-kiri  or 
suffered  death,  were  Yoshida  Shoin,  and  Hashimoto 
Sanai.  The  daimios  of  Mito,  Owari,  and  Echizen,f 
were  ordered  to  resign  in  favor  of  their  sons  and  go 
into  private  life.  "All  classes  now  held  their  breath 


*  See  their  names,  and  dates  of  the  Mississippi'1  s  movements,  in 
"A  Cruise  in  the  U.  S.  S.  Frigate  Mississippi, "  July  1857  to 
February  1860,  by  W.  F.  Gragg,  Boston,  1860. 

f  It  was  in  the  educational  service  of  this  baron  and  his 
son,  that  the  writer  went  to  Japan  and  lived  in  Echizen.  The 
Mikado's  Empire,  pp.  308,  426-434,  532'536- 


WORKS    THAT    FOLLOW.  417 

and  looked  on  in  silent  affright."  On  the  I3th  of 
February  1860,  the  embassy,  consisting  of.  seventy- 
one  persons  left  Yokohoma  in  the  PowJiatan  to  the 
United  States,  arriving  in  Washington"  May  14,  1860. 
The  English  copy  of  the  Perry  treaty  had  been 
burned  in  Yedo  in  1858,  and  one  of  their  objects  was 
to  obtain  a  fresh  transcript.  The  writer's  first  sight 
and  impression  of  the  Japanese  was  obtained,  when 
these  cultivated  and  dignified  strangers  visited  Phila 
delphia,  where  they  received  the  startling  news  of  the 
assination  in  Yedo,  March  230!,  of  their  chief  li,  by 
Mi  to  ronins. 

The  signing  of  treaties  without  the  Mikado's  con 
sent  was  an  act  of  political  suicide  on  the  part  of  the 
Yedo  government.  Not  only  did  "the  swaggering 
prime  minister "  li,  become  at  once  the  victim  of 
assassin's  swords,  but  all  over  the  country  fanatical 
patriots,  cutting  the  cord  of  loyalty  to  feudal  lords, 
became  "  wave-men  "  or  ronin.  They  raised  the  cry, 
"Honor  the  Mikado,  and  expel  the  barbarian."  Then 
began  that  series  of  acts  of  violence  —  the  murder  of 
foreigners  and  the  burning  of  legations,  which  for 
eigners  then  found  so  hard  to  understand,  but  which 
is  now  seen  to  be  a  logical  sequence  of  preceding 
events.  These  amateur  assassins  and  incendiaries 
were  but  zealous  patriots  who  hoped  to  deal  a 
death-blow  at  the  Yedo  usurpation  by  embroiling  it 
in  war  with  foreigners.  More  than  one  officer  promi  • 
nent  in  the  Meiji  era  has  boasted  *  of  his  part  in 

*  Episodes  in  a  Life  of  Adventure,  p.  163,  by  Laurence 
Oliphant,  1887. 


41 8  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

the  plots  and  alarms  which  preceded  the  fall  of  the 
dual  system  and  the  reinstatement  of  the  Mikado's 
supremacy.  To  this  the  writer  can  bear  witness. 

Meanwhile  the  ministers  of  the  Bakafu  were  "  like 
men  who  have  lost  their  lanterns  on  a  dark  night.  " 
Their  lives  were  worth  less  than  a  brass  tem-po.  Amid 
the  tottering  frame-work  of  government,  they  yet 
strove  manfully  to  keep  their  treaty  engagements. 
"  No  men  on  earth  could  have  acted  more  honor 
ably.  "  f  All  the  foreign  ministers  struck  their 
flags,  and  retired  to  Yokohoma,  except  Mr.  Harris. 
He,  despite  the  assassination,  January  14,  1861,  of 
Mr.  Heusken  his  interpreter,  maintained  his  ground 
in  solitude.  English  and  French  battalions  were 
landed  at  Yokohoma,  and  kept  camp  there  for  over 
twelve  years.  On  the  2ist  of  January,  1862,  another 
embassy  was  despatched  to  Europe  and  the  United 
States.  Their  purpose  was  to  obtain  postponement  of 
treaty  provisions  in  regard  to  the  opening  of  more 
ports.  In  New  York,  they  paid  their  respects  to  the 
widow  of  Commodore  Perry,  meeting  also  his  children 
and  grandchildren. 

Plots  and  counterplots  in  Kioto  and  Yedo,  action 
and  reaction  in  and  between  the  camp  and  the  throne 
went  on,  until,  on  the  3rd  of  January,  1868,  two  days 
after  the  opening  of  Hiogo  and  Ozaka  to  trade,  the 
coalition  of  daimios  hostile  to  the  Bakafu  or  Tycoon's, 
government,  obtained  possession  of  the  Mikado's  pal- 

t     Townsend  Harris's  words  to  the  writer,  October  9th,  1874. 


WORKS    THAT    FOLLOW.  419 

ace  and  person.  The  imperial  brocade  banner  of 
chastisement  was  then  unfurled,  and  the  "  Tycoon  " 
and  all  who  followed  him  stamped  as  clio-teki  traitors 
—  the  most  awful  name  in  Japanese  history.  One  of 
the  first  acts  of  the  new  government,  signalizing  the 
new  era  of  Meiji,  was  to  affix  the  imperial  seal  to  the 
treaties,  and  grant  audience  to  the  foreign  envoys.  In 
the  civil  war,  lasting  nearly  two  years,  the  skill  of  the 
southern  clansmen,  backed  by  American  rifles  and 
the  iron-clad  ram,  Stonewall,  secured  victory.  Yedo 
was  made  the  Kid  or  national  capital,  with  the  prefix 
of  To  (east),  and  thenceforward,  the  camp  and  the 
throne  were  united  in  Tokio,  the  Mikado's  dwelling 
place. 

All  power  in  the  empire  having  been  consolidated 
in  the  Mikado's  person  in  Tokio,  one  of  the  first  re 
sults  was  the  assertion  of  his  rule  over  its  outlying 
portions,  especially  Yezo,  Ogasawara  and  Riu  Kiu  is 
lands,  the  resources  of  Yezo  and  the  Kuriles  in 
cluded  in  the  term  Hokkaido  or  Northern  sea-circuit 
were  developed  by  colonists,  and  by  a  commission 
aided  by  Americans  eminent  in  science  and  skill. 
Sapporo  is  the  capital  city,  and  Hakodate  the  chief 
port.  The  thirty-seven  islands  of  Riu  Kiu,  with  their 
one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  inhabitants  are  or 
ganized  as  the  Okinawa  Ken,  one  of  the  prefects  of 
the  empire.  The  deserted  palace-enclosure  of  Shun, 
to  which  in  1853,  Perry  marched,  with  his  brass  bands 
marines  and  field-pieces,  to  return  the  visit  of  the 
regent,  is  now  occupied  by  battalion  of  the  Mikado's 


42O  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    TERRY. 

infantry.  The  dwellings  of  the  king  and  his  little  court 
now  lie  in  mildew  and  ruin,*  while  the  former  ruler 
is  a  smartly  decorated  marquis  of  the  empire.  Despite 
China's  claim  f  to  Riu  Kiu,  Japan  has  never  relaxed 
her  grasp  on  this  her  ancient  domain,  f  Variously- 
styled  "  the  Southern  Islands,"  "  Long  Rope  ' 
(Okinawa),  "  Sleeping  Dragon,"  "  Pendant  Tassels,  ' 
the  "  Country  which  observes  Propriety,  "  or  the 
"Eternal  Land"  of  Japanese  mythology,  and  prob 
ably  some  day  to  be  a  renowned  winter  health-resort, 
Riu  Kiu,  whether  destined  to  be  the  bone  of  conten 
tion  and  cause  of  war  between  the  rival  great  nations 
claiming  it,  or  to  sleep  in  perpetual  afternoon,  has 
ceased  to  be  a  political  entity.  No  one  will  probably 
ever  follow  Perry  in  making  a  treaty  with  the  once 
tiny  "  Kingdom." 

The  Ogasawara  (Benin)  islands  were  formally 
occupied  by  the  civil  and  military  officers  of  the 
Mikado  in  1875,  and  the  people  of  various  nationali 
ties  dwell  peaceably  under  the  sun-flag.  An  Ameri 
can  lady-missionary  and  a  passenger  in  the  steamer 
San  Pablo,  Mrs.  Anna  Viele  of  Albany,  spent  from 
January  1/j.th  to  3ist,  1855,  at  the  Bonin  Islands. 
She  found  of  Savory's  large  family  three  sons  and 
three  daughters  living.  The  old  flag  of  stars  and 


*  Cruise  of  the  Marquesas,  London,  1886. 

f  The  story  of  the  Riu  Kiu  (Loo  Clioo )  complication  by 
F.  Brinkley,  in  The  Chrysanthemum,  Yokohoma,  1883.  Audi  Al- 
teram  Partem,  by  D.  B.  McCartee  Esq.  M.  D. 

J  Asiatic  Soc.  of  Japan.  Transactions  Vol.  I,  p.  i ;  Vol.  IV.  p.  66. 


WORKS    THAT    FOLLOW.  421 

stripes  given  to  Savory  by  Commodore  Perry  is  still 
in  possession  of  his  widow,  and  is  held  in  great 
reverence  by  his  children  and  grandchildren,  all  of 
whom  profess  allegiance  to  the  United  States.  The 
boys,  as  soon  as  of  age,  go  to  Yokohama  and  are 
registered  in  the  American  consulate.  One  of  the 
sons  bears  the  name  of  Matthew  Savory,  so  named 
by  the  Commodore  himself  when  there.  A  grandson 
having  been  born  a  few  days  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Sau  Pablo,  Mrs.  Viele  was  invited  to  name  him. 
She  did  so,  and  Grover  Cleveland  Savory  received 
as  a  gift  a  photograph  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  Trees  planted  by  the  hand  of  the  Commo 
dore  still  bear  luscious  fruit.  Though  the  cattle  were 
long  ago  ''lifted"  by  passing  whalers,  the  goats  are 
•amazingly  abundant.*  The  island  of  Hachijo  (Fat- 
sizio,")  to  which,  between  the  years  1597  and  1886, 
sixteen  hundred  and  six  persons,  many  of  them 
court  ladies,  nobles,  and  gentlemen  from  Kioto  and 
Yedo,  were  banished,  is  also  under  beneficent  rule. 
The  new  penal  code  of  Japan,  based  on  the  ideas  of 
Christendom,  has  substituted  correctional  labor,  f  — 
•even  with  the  effect  of  flooding  America  and  Europe 
with  cheap  and  gaudy  trumpery  made  by  convicts 
under  prison  contracts, —  and  Hachijo  ceases  to 
stand,  in  revised  maps  and  charts,  as  the  "place  of 
-exile  for  the  grandees  of  Japan." 


*  Asiatic  Society  of  Japan,  Transactions  Vol.  IV,  p.  3. 
t  Asiatic  Society  and  Japan  Transactions,  Vol.  VI,  part  III, 
PP-  435-473- 


422  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

Ancient  traditions,  vigorously  revived  in  1874, 
claimed  that  Corea  was  in  the  same  relation  to  Japar 
as  Yedo  or  Riu  Kin  ;  or,  if  not  an  integral  portion  01' 
Dai  Nihon,  Corea  was  a  tributary  vassal.  A  party 
claiming  to  represent  the  "  unconquerable  spirit 
of  Old  Japan,"  (Yamato  damashii,)  to  reverence  the 
Mikado,  and  to  cherish  the  sword  as  the  living  soul  o;" 
the  samurai,  demanded  in  1875,  the  invasion  of  Corea 
The  question  divided  the  cabinet  after  the  return  o1' 
the  chief  members  of  it  from  their  tour  around  the 
world  in  1875,  and  resulted  in  a  rebellion  crushec 
only  after  the  expenditure  of  much  blood  and  treas 
ure.  It  was  finally  determined  not  to  invade  but  to 
"open"  Corea,  even  as  Japan  had  been  opened  to 
diplomacy  and  commerce  by  the  United  States, 
Only  twelve  years  after  Perry's  second  visit  to  the 
bay  of  Yedo,  and  in  the  same  month,  a  Japanese 
squadron  of  five  vessels  and  eight  hundred  men 
under  General  Kuroda  appeared  in  the  Han  river, 
about  as  far  below  the  Corean  capital  as  Uraga  is 
from  Tokio.  In  the  details  of  procedure,  and 
movement  of  ships,  boats  and  men,  the  imitation  of 
Perry's  policy  was  close  and  transparent.*  Patience, 
skill  and  tact,  won  a  "brain-victory,"  and  a  treaty  of 
friendship,  trade,  and  commerce,  was  signed  Febru 
ary  27th,  1876.  The  penultimate  hermit  nation  had 
led  the  last  member  of  the  family  into  the  world's 
market-place.  In  this  also,  Perry's  work  followed 
him. 

*  Corea,  the  Hermit  Nation,  p.  423. 


WORKS    THAT    FOLLOW.  423 

Two  years  after  this  event,  a  company  of  Japanese 
merchants  in  Yokohama,  assembled  together  of  their 
own  accord  ;  and,  in  their  own  way  celebrated  with 
speech,  song  and  toast,  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary 
of  the  arrival  of  Commodore  Perry  and  the  appara- 
tion  of  the  "  Black  ships  "  at  Uraga.  The  general 
tenor  of  the  thought  of  the  evening  was  that  the 
American  squadron  had  proved  to  Japan,  despite  oc 
casional  and  temporary  reverses,  an  argosy  of  treasures 
for  the  perpetual  benefit  of  the  nation. 

The  object-lesson  in  modern  civilization,  given  by 
Perry  on  the  sward  at  Yokohama,  is  now  illustrated 
on  a  national  scale.  Under  divine  Providence,  with 
unique  opportunity,  Japan  began  renascence  at  a 
time  of  the  highest  development  of  forces,  spiritual 
mental,  material.  With  Christianity,  modern  thought, 
electricity,  steam,  and  the  printing-press,  the  Mikado 
comes  to  his  empire  "at  such  a  time  as  this."  Since 
the  era  of  Meiji,  or  Enlightened  Peace,  was  ushered 
in,  January  26,  1858,  the  Mikado  Mutsuhito,  the  I23d 
sovereign  of  the  imperial  line,  born  twenty-one  days 
before  Perry  sailed  in  the  Mississippi  for  Japan,  has 
abolished  the  feudal  system,  emancipated  four-fifths  of 
his  subjects  from  feudal  vassalage  and  made  them 
possessors  of  the  soil,  disarmed  a  feudal  soldiery  num 
bering  probably  six  hundred  thousand  men  trained  to 
arms,  reorganized  the  order  of  society,  established 
and  equipped  an  army  forty  thousand  strong,  and  a 
navy  superior  in  ships  and  equipments  to  that  of  the 
United  States,  assured  the  freedom  of  conscience, 


424  MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 

introduced  the  telegraph,  railway,  steam-navigation, 
general  postal  and  saving,  and  free  compulsory  pub 
lic  educational  systems  ;  *  declared  the  equality  of 
all  men  before  the  law,  promised  limitation  of  the 
imperial  prerogative,  and  the  establishment  of  a 
national  parliament  in  A.  D.  1890. 

All  this  looks  like  a  miracle.  "  Can  a  nation  be  born 
at  once,"  a  land  in  one  day  ? 

The  story  of  the  inward  preparation  of  Nippon  for 
its  wondrous  flowering  in  our  day,  of  the  development 
of  national  force,  begun  a  century  before  Perry  was 
born,  which,  with  outward  impact  made  not  collision, 
but  the  unexpected  resultant, — New  Japan,  deserves 
a  volume  from  the  historian,  and  an  epic  from  the 
poet.  We  have  touched  upon  the  subject  elsewhere. f 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  Dutch,  so  long  maligned  by 
writers  of  hostile  faith  and  jealous  nationality,  to 
whom  Perry  in  his  book  fails  to  do  justice,  bore  an 
honorable  and  intelligent  part  in  it.  J  Even  Perry, 
Harris  and  the  Americans  constitute  but  one  of  many 
trains  of  influences  contributing  to  the  grand  result. 
Perry  himself  died  before  that  confluence  of  the 
streams  of  tendency,  now  so  clearly  visible,  had  been 
fully  revealed  to  view.  The  prayers  of  Christians, 


*  Hon.  John  A.  Bingham  to  Mr.  Evarts,  U.  S.  Foreign  Rela 
tions,  1880. 

f  The  Recent  Revolutions  in  Japan,  chapter  XXVIII  in  The 
Mikado's  Empire,  and  pamphlet  The  Rutgers  Graduates  in 
Japan,  New  Brunswick  N.  J.  1886. 

I  Transactions,  Asiatic  Society  of  Japan,  Vol.  V.  p.  207. 


WORKS    THAT    FOLLOW.  425 

the  yearning  of  humanity,  the  pressure  of  commerce, 
the  ambition  of  diplomacy,  from  the  outside  ;  the 
longing  of  patriots,  the  researches  of  scholars,  the 
popularization  of  knowledge,  the  revival  of  the  indige 
nous  Shinto  religion,  the  awakening  of  reverence  for 
the  Mikado's  person,  the  heated  hatred  almost  to 
flame  of  the  Yedo  usurpation,  the  eagerness  of  stu 
dents  for  western  science,  the  fertilizing  results  of 
Dutch  culture,  from  the  inside  ;  were  all  tributaries, 
which  Providence  made  to  rise,  kept  in  check,  and 
let  loose  to  meet  in  flood  at  the  elect  moment. 

Meanwhile,  Japan  groans  under  the  yoke  imposed 
upon  her  by  the  Treaty  Powers  in  the  days  of  her 
ignorance.  "Extra-territorialty  "  is  her  curse.  The 
selfishness  and  greed  of  strong  nations  infringe  her 
just  and  sovereign  rights  as  an  independent  nation; 
In  the  light  of  twenty-eight  years  of  experience, 
treaty-revision  is  a  necessity  of  righteousness  and 
should  be  initiated  by  the  United  States.*  This 
was  the  verdict  of  Townsend  Harris,  as  declared  to 
the  writer,  in  1874.  This  is  the  written  record  of  the 
English  and  American  missionaries  in  their  manifesto 
of  April  28th,  1884.  at  the  Ozaka  Conference.! 
Were  Matthew  Perry  to  speak  from  his  grave,  his 
voice  would  protest  against  oppression  by  treaty,  and 
in  favor  of  righteous  treatment  of  Japan,  in  the  spirit 
of  the  treaty  made  and  signed  by  him  ;  to  wit : 

*  Japanese  Treaty  Revision  by  Prof.  J.  K.  Newton,  Bibliotheca 
Sacra,  January  1887. 

t  Published  in  The  Independent,  N.  V. 


426 


MATTHEW    CALBRAITH    PERRY. 


"  There  shall  be  a  perfect,  permanent,  and  univer 
sal  peace,  and  a  sincere  and  cordial  amity,  between 
the  United  States  of  America  on  the  one  part,  and 
the  Empire  of  Japan  on  the  other,  and  between  their 
people,  respectively,  without  exception  of  persons 
places." 


o  - 


APPENDICES 


i. 

AUTHORITIES. 

WRITINGS    OF    M.  C.    PERRY. 

Autograph. 

DIARY,   REMARKS,   ETC.    (on   board   the  United   States   frigate 

President*,   Commodore  Rodgers),    made  by   M.   C.    Perry. 

[From  March   19,   1811,  to  July  25,    1813]. 

LETTERS  of  M.  C.  Perry  to  his  superior  officers,  and  to  the 
United  States  Navy  Department,  in  the  United  States  Navy  Ar 
chives,  Washington  D.  C. ;  in  all,  about  two  thousand.  These 
are  bound  up  with  others,  in  volumes  lettered  on  the  back  OFFI 
CERS'  LETTERS,  MASTER  COMMANDANTS'  LETTERS,  CAPTAINS' 
LETTERS.  As  commodore  of  a  squadron,  M.  C.  Perry's  autograph 
letters  and  papers  relating  to  his  cruises  are  bound  in  separate 
volumes  and  lettered :  SQUADRON,  COAST  OF  AFRICA,  UNDER 
COMMODORE  M.  C.  PERRY,  APRIL  10  1843,  TO  APRIL  29  1845, 
[i  volume,  folio];  HOME  SQUADRON,  COMMODORE  M.  C. 
PERRY'S  CRUISE  [2  volumes,  folio,  on  THE  MEXICAN  WAR]  ;  EAST 
INDIA,  CHINA  AND  JAPAN  SQUADRON,  COMMODORE  M.  C.  PERRY, 
Volume  I,  December  1852  to  December  31  1853  ;  Volume  II,  Jan 
uary  1854  to  May  1855  [2  volumes,  folio]. 

LETTERS  to  naval  officers,  scientific  men,  and  personal  friends. 

Printed. 

Unsigned  articles  in  The  Naval  Magazine,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

FUTURE  COMMERCIAL  RELATIONS  WITH  JAPAN  AND  LEW 
CHEW. 

THE  EXPEDIENCY  OF  EXTENDING  FURTHER  ENCOURAGEMENT 
TO  AMERICAN  COMMERCE  IN  THE  EAST. 


428  APPENDIX. 

ENLARGEMENT  OF  GEOGRAPHICAL  SCIENCE,  Pamphlet,  New 
York,  1856. 

NARRATIVE  OF  THE  EXPEDITION  OF  AN  AMERICAN  SQLTAD- 
RON  TO  THE  CHINA  SEAS  AND  JAPAN.  3  volumes,  folio.  Wash 
ington,  1856.  i  volume,  folio.  New  York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co., 
1857- 

The  Perry  family  Bible,  dates  of  births,  marriages  and  deaths. 
Scrap  books,  kept  at  various  periods  of  M.  C.  Perry's  life  by 
the  children  and  relatives  of  M.  C.  Perry. 

JAPANESE    AUTHORITIES. 

Kt'nse  Sliiriaku  (Short  History  of  Recent  Times,  1853-1869, 
by  Yamaguchi  Uji,  Tokio,  1871  translated  by  Ernest  Satoxv, 
Yokohama,  1873). 

Genfi  Yume  Monogatari  (Dream  Story  of  Genji.  inside  his 
tory  of  Japan  from  1850  to  1864),  translated  by  Ernest  Satow  in 
Japan  Mail,  1874. 

Kiuse  Kibun  (Youth's  History  of  Japan,  from  Perry's  arrival, 
3  volumes,  illustrated,  Yokio,  1874). 

Hoku-c  O  Setsu  JRoktt,  Official  Record  of  Intercourse  with  the 
American  Barbarians  (made  by  the  "  Tycoon's  ''  officers,  during 
negotiations  with  Perry  in  1854  ;  manuscript  copied  from  the  De 
partment  of  State,  Tokio,  1884). 

A  Chronicle  of  the  Chief  Events  in  Japanese  history  from 
1844  to  1863,  translated  by  Ernest  Satow;  in  Japan  Afail,  1873. 

Japanese  poems,  street  songs,  legends,  notes  taken  by  the 
writer  during  conversations  with  people,  officers,  and  students, 
chiefly  eye  witnesses  to  events  referred  to. 


The  other  authorities  quoted,  are  referred  to  in  the  text  and 
foot  notes,  or  mentioned  in  the  preface. 


APPENDIX.  429 

II. 
ORIGIN   OF  THE   PERRY   NAME   AND   FAMILY. 

IN  answer  to  an  inquiry,  Hext  M.  Perry,  Esq.,  M.D., 
of"  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  who  is  preparing  a  genealogy  of 
the  Perry  family,  has  kindly  furnished  the  following 
epitome :  — 

DEAR  SIR,  —  I  have  no  doubt  of  our  name  being  of 
Scandinavian  origin.  The  Perrys  were  from  Normandy, 
the  original  name  being  Perier  which  has  in  course  been 
reduced  to  its  present  —  and  for  many  hundred  years  past 
in  England  and  America  —  Perry.  A  market  town  in 
Normandy,  France,  is  our  old  Perry  name  —  Periers.  The 
name  doubtlessly  originated  from  the  fruit,  Pear,  French 
Poire;  or,  the  fruit  took  its  name  from  the  family  which  is 
perhaps  more  likely.  At  any  rate  Poire  is  easily  modu 
lated  into  Perer,  Perier,  Periere,  etc.,  and  so  across  the 
Channel  to  England,  with  William  the  Conqueror,  in  1086, 
it  soon  ripens  into  our  name  Perry.  Perry  is  a  delightful 
fermented  beverage  in  England  made  from  pears  —  a 
sort  of  pear  cider. 

"Perry "  identifies  by  its  arms  with  "  Perers."  The 
family  of  Perry  was  seated  in  Devon  County,  England, 
in  1370. 

That  of  "  Perier  "  was  of  Perieres  in  Bretagne  (Brittany, 
France),  and  descended  from  Budic,  Count  of  Cornuailles, 
A  D.  900,  whose  younger  son  Perion  gave  name  to 
Perieres,  Bretagne.  A  branch  came  to  England,  1066, 
and  Matilda  de  Perer  was  mother  to  Hugo  Parcarius  who 
lived  in  time  of  Henry  I.  The  name  continually  recurs 
in  all  parts  of  England,  and  thence  the  Perrys,  Earls  of 
Limerick.  There  was  also  a  Norman  family  of  Pears  in- 


43O  APPENDIX. 

termarried    with    Shakespere  which    bore  different  arms 
"  Perrie  "  for  Perry  —  "  Pirrie,  "  for  Perry. 

"PERRIER." 

Odo,  Robert,  Ralph,  Hugh,  &c.,  de  Periers,  Normandy 
1180-95.  Robert  de  Pereres,  England,  1198. 

It  appears  that  the  family  Saxby,  Shakkesby,  Saxesby, 
Sakespee,  Sakespage  or  Shakespeare  was  a  branch  of 
that  of  De  Perers,  and  this  appears  to  be  confirmed  by  the 
armorial.  The  arms  of  one  branch  of  Peri  re  or  Perers 
were  :  Argent,  a  bend  sable  (charged  with  three  pears  for 
difference).  Those  of  Shakespeare  were  :  — Argent,  a  bend 
sable  (charged  with  a  spear  for  difference).  As  before 
stated,  the  family  of  Perere  came  from  Periers  near 
Evreux,  Normandy,  where  it  remained  in  the  i5th  cen 
tury.  Hugode  Periers  possessed  estate  in  Warwick  1156  ; 
Geoffrey  de  Periers  held  fief  in  Stafford,  1165,  and  Adam 
de  Periers  in  Cambridge.  Sir  Richard  de  Perers  was 
M.  P.  for  Leicester  1311,  Herts  1316-24,  and  Viscount 
of  Essex  and  Herts  in  1325. 

Courteously  Yours, 

HEXT    M.    PERRY. 


III. 
THE    NAME    CALBRAITII. 

IT  is  interesting  to  inquire  whether  the  family  of  Cal- 
braith  is  still  in  existence.  An  examination  of  the  direc 
tory  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia  during  the  years  1882, 
1883,  1884  recalls  no  name  of  Calbraith,  and  but  one  of 
Calbreath,  though  fifty-two  of  Galbraith  are  down  in  the 


APPENDIX.  43 1 

lists.  The  spelling  of  the  name  with  a  C  is  exceedingly 
rare,  the  name  Galbraith,  however,  is  common  in  North 
Ireland  and  in  Scotland.  Arthur,  the  father  of  our  late 
president  of  the  same  name,  in  his  "  Derivation  of  Family 
Names,"  says  it  is  composed  of  two  Gaelic  words  GW/and 
Bhreatan;  that  is  "  strange  Breton,"  or  "  Low  Country 
Breton."  The  Galbraiths  in  the  Gaelic  are  called  Brea- 
tannich,  or  Clanna  Breatannich,  that  is  "  the  Britons," 
or  "the  children  of  Britons,"  and  were  once  reckoned  a 
great  clan  in  Scotland,  according  to  the  following 
lines :  — 

,  "  Galbraiths  from  the  Red  Tower, 

Noblest  of  Scottish  surnames." 

The  Falla  dhearg,  or  Red  Tower  was  probably  Dum 
barton,  that  is  the  Dun  Bhreatain,  or  stronghold  of  the 
Britons,  whence  it  is  said  the  Galbraiths  came. 

Of  one  of  the  unlucky  bearers  of  the  name  Galbraith,  a 
private  of  our  army  in  Mexico,  Longfellow  has  written  in 
his  poem  of  "  Dennis  Galbraith."  In  his  "  History  of 
Japan,"  Mr.  Francis  Ottiwell  Adams,  an  English  author, 
naturally  falls  into  the  habit  of  writing  Matthew  G.  Perry. 
The  Rev.  Calbraith  B.  Perry  of  Baltimore,  nephew  of 
Matthew  C.  Perry,  suggests  that  the  initial  letter  of  the 
name  is  merely  the  softening  of  the  Scotch  G. 


IV. 
THE    FAMILY   OF   M.    C.   PERRY. 

OF  MATTHEW  C.  PERRY,  born  in  Newport,  April  10, 1794, 
and  JANE  SLIDELL  born  in  New  York,  February  29,  1797, 


432  APPENDIX. 

who  were  married   in   New  York,  October  24,  1814,  there 
were  born  four  sons  and  six  daughters  :  — 

JOHN  SLIDELL  PERRY,  died  March  24,  1817. 

SARAH  PERRY  (Mrs.  Robert  S.  Rodgers.) 
JANE  HAZARD  PERRY  (Mrs.  John  Hone)  died  December  24 
1882. 

MATTHEW  CALBRAITH  PERRY,  JR.,  died  November  16,  1873. 

SUSAN  MURGATROYDE  PERRY,  died  August  15,    1825. 

OLIVER  HAZARD  PERRY,  died  November  17,  1870. 
WILLIAM  FREDERICK  PERRY,  died  March  18,  1884. 
CAROLINE  SLIDELL  PERRY,  (Mrs.  August  Belmont.) 
ISABELLA  BOLTON  PERRY,  (Mrs.  George  Tiffany.) 
ANNA  RODGERS  PERRY,  died  March  9,  1838. 

MATTHEW  C.  PERRY  died  in  New  York,  March  4,  1858;  hi> 
wife,  who  was  his  devoted  coinpanion  and  helper.  JANE  SLIDELL 
PERRY,  survived  him  twenty  years,  and  died  in  Newport.  R.  I., 
June  14,  1879,  at  the  home  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  George  Tiffany. 
A  pension  of  fifty  dollars  per  month  was  granted  to  her,  by  Acv 
of  Congress,  from  the  date  of  her  husband's  death. 

Of  the  Commodore's  children,  who  grew  to  adult  life,  Sarah 
was  married  to  Col.  Robert  S.  Rodgers  (brother  of  the  late  Rear- 
Admiral  John  Rodgers,  U.  S.  N.),  at  the  Commandant's  house, 
Navy  Yard.  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  December  15,  1841,  and  now  lives 
near  Havre  de  Grace,  Maryland. 

Jane  Hazard  was  married  to  John  Hone,  Esq.,  of  New  York, 
at  the  Commandant's  house,  Brooklvn  Navy  Yard,  October  20. 
1841. 

Matthew  Calbraith  married  Miss  Harriet  Taylor  of  Brooklyn, 
April  26,  1853.  He  entered  the  United  States  Navy  as  Midship 
man,  June  I,  1835,  was  appointed  Lieutenant  April  3.  1848,  and 
later  Captain.  He  was  placed  on  the  retired  list  April  4,  1867. 

Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  an  officer  in  the  United  States  Marine 
Corps,  was  appointed  Lieutenant  February  25,  1841  ;  was  in  the 
Mexican  war,  and  resigned  July  23,  1849;  was  appointed  United 
States  Consul  at  Hong  Kong.  He  died  in  London  May  17,  1870. 
He  was  unmarried. 


APPENDIX.  433 

William  Frederick  Perry,  died  unmarried. 

Caroline  Slidell  Perry  was  married,  in  New  York,  to  the  Hon. 
August  Belmont,  late  Minister  of  the  United  States  to  the 
Netherlands,  November  7,  1849. 

Isabella  Bolton  Perry  married  Mr.  George  Tiffany  in  New 
York,  August  17,  1864. 


V. 

OFFICIAL  DETAIL  OF   M.  C.  PERRY,  UNITED  STATES 
NAVY. 

(Furnished  by  the  Chief  Clerk  United  States  Navy  Department,  1888.) 

MATTHEW  C.  PERRY  was  appointed  a  Midshipman  in  the 
United  States  Navy,  January  i6th,  1809  ;  March  i6th,  1809, 
ordered  to  the  naval  station,  New  York;  May  nth,  1809, 
furloughed  for  the  merchant  service;  October  i2th,  1810, 
ordered  to  the  President;  February  22d,  1813,  ap 
pointed  Acting  Lieutenant;  July  24th,  1813,  appointed 
Lieutenant  ;  November  i6th,  1813,  ordered  to  New 
London;  December  2Oth,  1815,  granted  six  month's  fur 
lough;  September  22d,  1817,  ordered  to  the  navy  yard, 
New  York;  June  8th,  1821,  ordered  to  command  the 
Shark ;  July  29th,  1823,  ordered  to  the  receiving  ship 
at  New  York ;  July  26th,  1824,  ordered  to  the  North 
Carolina ;  March  2ist,  1826,  promoted  to  Master  Com 
mandant;  August  i7th,  1827,  ordered  to  the  naval 
rendezvous  at  Boston;  September  2d,  1828,  granted 
leave  of  absence  ;  April  22d,  1830,  ordered  to  command 
the  Concord '•  December  loth,  1832,  detached  and 
granted  three  month's  leave ;  January  7th,  1833,  ordered  to 
the  navy  yard,  New  York;  February  gth,  1837,  promoted 
to  Captain  ;  March  i5th,  1837,  detached  from  the  navy 


434  APPENDIX. 

yard,  New  York;  August  29th,  1837,  ordered  to  command 
the  Fulton;  March  the  2d,  1840,  ordered  to  the 
steamer  building  at  New  York  to  give  general  superinten 
dence  over  the  gun  practice;  June  i2th,  1841,  ordered  to 
command  the  navy  yard,  New  York;  February  2oth, 
1843,  ordered  to  hold  himself  in  readiness  for  command 
of  the  African  squadron;  May  ist,  1845,  detached  ancl 
granted  leave;  December  2yth,  1845,  ordered  to  exam 
ine  merchant  steamers  at  New  York  ;  January  6th,  1846, 
ordered  to  examine  docks  at  New  York  —  examination 
finished  February  4th,  1846;  May  i8th,  1846,  ordered  to 
examine  steamers  at  New  York;  2ist  July,  1846,  ordered 
to  report  at  Department;  August  2oth,  1846,  ordered  to 
command  the  Mississippi;  March  4th,  1847,  ordered 
to  command  the  Home  Squadron;  November  2oth,  1848, 
detached  from  command  of  Home  Squadron,  and  ordered 
as  General  Superintendent  of  ocean  mail  steamers  ;  No 
vember  3d,  1849,  ordered  to  report  at  the  Department ;  Jan 
uary  22d,  1852,  given  preparatory  orders  to  command  the 
East  India  Squadron;  3d  March,  1852,  detached  as  Super 
intendent  of  ocean  mail  steamers;  March  24th,  1852, 
ordered  to  command  the  East  India  Squadron ;  January 
1 2th,  1855,  reported  his  arrival  at  New  York;  June  20th, 
1855,  ordered  to  Washington  as  a  Member  of  Efficiency 
Board  under  Act  of  Congress,  February  28th,  1855  ;  Sep 
tember  i3th,  1855,  Board  dissolved  ;  December  3oth,  1857, 
detached  from  special  duty  and  wait  orders. 

He  died  at  New  York  City,  N.  Y.,  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1858. 


APPENDIX.  435 

VI. 
THE   NAVAL   APPRENTICESHIP    SYSTEM. 

MATTHEW  C.  PERRY  may  be  called  the  founder  of  the 
apprenticeship  system  in  the  United  States  Navy,  how 
ever  much  the  present  improved  methods  may  differ  from 
his  own.  He  was  the  first  officer  to  attempt  a  systematic 
improvement  on  the  hap-hazard  and  costly  method  of  re 
cruiting  formerly  in  vogue.  Under  the  old  plan,  one-fourth 
the  men  and  boys  picked  up  at  random  became  invalided  or 
were  discharged  as  unfit.  It  took  four  month's  work  at  five 
recruiting  stations  to  get  a  crew  for  the  "North  Carolina" 
The  daily  average  of  recruits  at  five  stations,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  Norfolk  and  Baltimore,  was  but 
seven,  at  the  utmost,  and  could  not  be  increased  without 
bounties.  Perry's  experience  at  recruiting  stations 
prompted  him  to  a  thorough  study  of  the  subject,  and  at 
tempt  at  reform.  He  addressed  the  Department  on  this 
theme  as  early  as  1823.  In  a  letter  of  eleven  pages, 
dated  January  25,  1824,  a  model  of  clearness  and  strength, 
he  elaborated  his  idea  of  providing  crews  for  men-of-war 
by  naval  apprentices  properly  educated.  He  proposed 
that  a  thousand  apprentices  be  engaged  yearly,  saving  in 
expense  of  pay  (from  $792,000  to  $462,000)  the  sum  of 
$330,000.  He  suggested  withholding  the  ration  of  spirits 
for  the  first  t\vo  years  of  indenture,  so  that  a  further  saving 
of  $43,800,  and  total  saving  $373,800,  would  be  secured. 

In  this  paper  he  treats  the  problem  of  the  great  diffi 
culty,  delay  and  expense  of  obtaining  men  for  our  naval 
service,  which  becomes  greater  in  time  of  hostilities.  This 
was  shown  in  the  war  of  1812  when  large  bounties  were 
offered.  The  sea-faring  population  of  the  United  States 


APPENDIX. 


had  not  increased  since  1810.  Whereas  there  had  been 
in  1810,  71,238  seamen,  there  were  in  1821  only  64,948. 
In  case  of  another  war,  the  merchant  ships  should  not  be 
suffered  to  rot  in  port  as  in  1812,  but  ought  to  pursue 
their  usual  voyages.  Hence  merchant  ships  would  want 
sailors,  and  when  there  was  considered  the  number  wanted 
for  that  popular  branch  of  speculation  —  privateering,  he 
feared  that  few  would  be  left  for  the  public  service,  unless 
exorbitant  pay  and  bounties  were  given  as  inducements 
for  enlisting.  Owing  to  the  decay  of  the  New  England 
carrying  trade,  and  the  fisheries,  the  sources  for  sea-faring 
men  had  dried  up  ;  and  it  was  easier  to  get  ships  than 
men.  Even  in  New  York  a  sloop's  crew  was  unobtaina 
ble  in  less  than  twenty  days.  If  this  were  so,  how  hard 
would  it  be  to  equip  a  fleet! 

The  remedy  proposed  was  to  receive  boys  as  apprentices 
to  serve  until  of  age  and  to  be  educated  and  clothed  by 
the  government.  Such  a  system  would  be  a  blessing  to 
society.  It  would  reform  bad  and  idle  boys,  and  create 
in  a  numerous  class  of  men  attachment  to  the  naval  ser- 
sice,  besides  raising  up  warrant  and  petty  officers  of  native 
birth.  These  at  present  were  mostly  foreigners.  Boys^ 
shipped  only  for  two  years;  they  then  got  discharged  and1 
perhaps  went  roaming  on  distant  voyages  all  over  the 
earth,  losing  the  discipline  they  had  acquired.  There  was 
no  difficulty  to  get  boys  in  New  York.  The  city  alone 
could  supply  five  hundred  annually,  and  the  city  corpora 
tions  would  assist  the  plan.  "  Experience  proves  that 
these  lads  do  well.  The  very  spirit  which  prompts  them 
to  youthful  indiscretion  gives  them  a  zest  for  the  daring 
and  adventurous  life  to  which  they  are  called  in  our  ships 
of  war.' 


APPENDIX.  437 

With  characteristic  tenacity,  he  returned  to  the  subject 
in  a  letter  to  the  Department,  January  10  1835,  giving  the 
results  of  further  studies.  One  half  of  all  the  men  en 
listed  for  the  navy  came  from  the  New  York  rendezvous. 
From  April  2d,  1828  to  October  14,  1834,  there  were  en 
listed  17  petty  officers,  2,335  seamen,  1,174  ordinary  sea 
men,  842  landsmen  and  414  boys,  a  total  of  4.782,  or  19  a 
week.  Nearly  ten  months  were  necessary  to  get  750  men, 
the  crew  of  a  line-of-battleship,  twenty  weeks  to  furnish  a 
frigate  with  380  men,  and  eight  weeks  to  enlist  150  men 
for  a  sloop  of  war. 

Perry  noticed  another  glaring  defect  in  the  system,  and 
wrote  September  25/1841,  concerning  frauds  on  the  govern 
ment,  by  men  enlisting  in  the  navy  getting  advance  pay 
and  then  deserting.  Parents  connived  at  enlistment,  and 
often  got  off  "  minors"  by  habeas-corpus  writs,  and  the 
government  thus  lost  both  the  recruit  and  the  advance 
money.  The  same  trouble  had  been  found  in  the  British 
navy.  Native-born  men  enlisted,  got  advance  pay,  and 
then  claimed  alien  birth.  Perry  consulted  with  the  dis 
trict  attorney  as  to  how  to  stop  this  practice. 

While  on  the  Ftilton,  Perry  returned  to  hi§  idea  of  per 
fecting  the  apprenticeship  system  first  suggested  by  him. 
He  asked  permission  to  have  his  letters  of  1823  and  1824 
copied  for  him  by  Dr.  Du  Barry,  that  he  have  authority  to 
increase  the  complement  of  the  Fulton  as  vacancies  should 
occur,  and  to  employ  as  many  as  the  vessel  would  accom. 
modate.  His  requests  were  finally  granted.  The  law  of 
Congress  passed  in  March  or  April  1847,  authorizing  the 
apprenticeship  system,  was  the  result  of  his  persistent  pre 
sentation  of  his  own  plan  elaborated  in  1824. 

Seventeen  indentured  apprentices  were  received,  and  a 


APPENDIX. 

daily  school  on  board  the  Fulton  was  instituted,  in  which 
the  lads  who  proved  apt  to  learn  were  taught  the  English 
branches,  seamanship,  war  exercises,  and  partially  the 
operations  of  the  steam  engine.  After  one  year's  ex 
perience,  Perry  wrote  July  8th,  1839,  reporting  that  the 
boys  already  performed  all  the  duties  of  many  men 
They  gave  less  trouble  and  were  more  to  be  depended 
upon.  While  the  utmost  vigilance  of  officers  was  re 
quired  to  prevent  desertions  of  sailors  on  account  of  the 
near  allurements  of  the  great  city,  the  boys  with  a  greater 
attachment. were  more  to  be  trusted. 

As  only  one-fifth  of  the  sailors  in  the  navy  were 
native  Americans,  Perry  took  intense  pride  in  the  enter 
prise  of  rearing  up  men  for  the  national  service,  in  whom 
patriotism  would  be  natural,  inherited  and  heartfelt.  He 
cheerfully  met  all  the  difficulties  in  the  way  —  such  as 
parents  claiming  their  boys  on  various  pretexts,  and  the 
law-suits  which  followed.  To  the  boys  themselves,  Perry 
was  as  kind  as  he  was  exacting.  He  believed  in  tempt 
ing  boys  in  the  sense  of  proving  them  with  responsibility 
enough  to  make  men  of  them.  Sufficient  shore  liberty 
was  given,  and  once  in  a  while,  even  the  joys  of  the  circus 
were  allowed  them. 

He  proposed  to  man  one  of  the  new  national  vessels 
with  a  crew  of  his  trained  apprentices,  and  under  picked 
officers  to  send  them  on  a  long  cruise  to  demonstrate  the 
success  of  his  system.  When  the  brig  Somers  was  launched 
April  1 6,  1842,  the  time  seemed  ripe,  and  he  obtained 
permission  of  the  Department  to  carry  out  his  plan.  The 
vessel  had  been  built,  and  the  boys  had  been  trained 
under  his  own  eye.  After  a  conference  with  Secretary 
Upshur  in  September,  it  was  arranged  she  should  make 


APPENDIX.  439 

a  trip  to  Sierra  Leone  and  back,  occupying  ninety  days, 
traversing  seven  thousand  miles,  and  visiting  the  ports  or 
colonies  of  four  great  nations.  A  few  days  afterwards 
the  Somers  sailed  away,  full  of  happy  hearts  beating  with 
joyful  anticipations,  yet  destined  to  make  the  most  pain 
ful  record  of  any  vessel  in  the  American  navy. 

On  this  sad  subject,  either  to  state  facts  or  give  an 
opinion,  we  have  nothing  to  say.  The  real  or  imaginary 
mutiny  and  its  consequences  did  much  to  injure  and 
finally  destroy  the  apprenticeship  system  as  founded  by 
Perry.  Other  reasons  for  failure  lay  in  the  fact  that  boys 
of  good  family  expected  by  enlistment  to  become  line  and 
staff  officers.  Disappointed  in  their  groundless  hopes, 
they  deserted  or  wanted  to  be  discharged.  Failing  in 
this,  they  sought  release  by  civil  process. 

By  the  system  of  1863,  the  same  failure  resulted.  In 
1872  "training  ships,"  as  we  now  understand  the  term, 
were  put  in  use.  On  June  20,  1874,  the  Marine  School 
Bill  was  passed  which  created  the  present  admirable 
system,  which  has  little  or  no  organic  connection  with  any 
other  system  previously  in  vogue.  It  is  now  possible, 
with  the  Annapolis  Naval  Academy  and  the  School-ship 
system,  to  provide  abundantly  both  officers  and  sailors 
for  the  military  marine  of  the  United  States.  In  any 
history  of  the  naval  apprenticeship  system  of  the  United 
States  navy,  despite  the  claims  made  by  others,  or  the 
many  names  associated  with  its  origin  or  development, 
the  name  of  Matthew  Perry  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  as 
prime  mover. 


440  APPENDIX. 

VI. 
DUELLING. 

MATTHEW  PERRY  never  fought  a  duel,  or  acted  as  a 
second,  though  duelling  was  part  of  the  established  code 
of  honor  among  naval  men  of  his  school  and  age,  and 
provocation  was  not  lacking.  On  his  return  from  the 
cruise  in  the  North  Carolina,  an  unpleasant  episode  oc 
curred,  growing  out  of  idle  gossip  and  the  malignant 
jealousy  felt  towards  an  officer  of  superior  parts  by 
inferiors  unable  to  understand  one  so  intensely  earnest  as 
Matthew  Perry.  The  manner  in  which  Perry  dealt  with 
the  man  and  the  matter  strengthens  the  claim  we  have 
made  for  him  as  an  educator  of  the  United  States  Navy. 
The  conversation  at  a  dinner  party  in  Philadelphia  filtered 
into  the  ear  of  a  certain  lieutenant  in  Washington,  who 

reported   that    Captain    M had    spoken    of    Matthew 

Perry  as  "  a  d — d  rascal."  Perry  at  once  took  measures 
to  ferret  out  the  anonymous  slanderer.  He  first  learned 

from    Captain    M the  total  falsity  of    the  report,  and 

then  demanded  from  the  disseminator  of  the  scandal  the 
name  of  his  informant,  which  was  refused.  Thereupon 
Perry  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  pleading  the 
general  injury  to  the  service  from  calumnies  and  un 
founded  reports.  The  Secretary  wrote  to  the  offending 
lieutenant  to  tell  the  truth.  The  latter  pleaded  the 
"  privacy  of  his  room/'  "sacred  confidence  among  gentle 
men,"  and  declined  to  give  the  name  of  the  person 
"  understood  "  to  have  made  the  offensive  remark  to  him. 
The  Secretary,  Hon.  Samuel  L.  Southard,  in  a  letter  which 
is  a  model  of  terse  English,  read  the  offender  a  lecture  on 
the  unmanly  folly  of  dabbling  in  idle  gossip,  and  laid 


APPENDIX.  441 

down  the  principle  of  holding  the  disseminator  of  reports  re 
sponsible  for  the  truth  of  statements  made  on  the  authority 
of  another.  The  triangular  and  voluminous  correspon 
dence  from  Boston,  Washington  and  Norfolk,  from  Novem 
ber  i5th  1827,  to  April  1828,  may  be  read  in  the  United 
States  Navy  Archives.  Perry  demanded  a  court-martial, 
if  necessary,  to  clear  himself  from  unjust  suspicion.  It 
was  not  needful.  His  tenacity  and  perseverance  con 
quered.  The  gossipper  begged  permission  to  withdraw 
his  remark,  and  then  crawled  into  oblivion. 

In  this  paper  war,  extending  over  several  months,  the 
officer  whose  victories  both  in  peace  and  war  were  many, 
scored  points  in  behalf  of  truth  and  good  morals,  of  the 
discipline  and  order  of  the  Navy,  and  of  the  advance  of 
civilization.  Heretofore,  the  custom  of  duelling  had 
largely  prevailed  in  the  corps,  and  to  this  savage  tribunal 
of  arbitration  a  thousand  petty  questions  of  personal 
honor  had  been  brought.  Yet  despite  all  arguments  in 
favor  of  the  bloody  code,  which  believers  in  or  admirers 
of  its  supposed  benefits  may  fabricate  in  its  favor,  the 
fact  remains  that  it  served  but  an  insignificant  purpose. 
Its  direct  influence  was  slight  in  repressing  those  petty 
personal  differences  which,  belonging  to  human  nature, 
have  such  congenial  soil  in  a  crowded  ship.  Duelling 
was  a  cure  but  no  preventative,  the  killing  being  as 
frequent  as  the  curing. 

Matthew  Perry  might  have  challenged  the  lieutenant, 
and,  like  scores  of  his  brother  officers,  appealed  to  the 
savage  code  ;  but  having  long  pondered  upon  and  fre 
quently  witnessed  the  slight  benefit  accruing  from  the 
costly  sacrifice  of  life  and  limb  from  duelling,  he  aimed  to 
cut  out  from  the  life  of  the  servfce  the  whole  system,  root 


442  APPENDIX. 

and  branch,  and  to  substitute  the  more  rigid  test  of 
personal  responsibility.  In  choosing  the  slower  and,  in 
old  naval  eyes,  more  inglorious  method  of  correspondence, 
and  appeal  to  considerate  judgment  of  his  peers  in  court, 
he  exhibited  more  moral  cournge,  showed  his  true  char 
acter  and  motive,  and  lifted  higher  the  splendid  standard 
of  the  American  Navy.  To  the  formation  of  that  esprit 
of  discipline  which  all  now  concede  to  be  "the  life  of  the 
service,"  Perry,  in  this  episode  nobly  contributed.  He 
made  the  pen  mightier  than  the  sword. 

Despite  his  clear  record  on  this  subject,  made  thus  earl}-, 
he  came  very  near  being  made  the  victim  of  a  politic;  1 
quarrel,  and  a  reformer's  zeal.  Readers  of  the  works  of 
John  Quincy  Adams  may  get  an  impression  unjust  to 
Captain  Matthew  Perry,  because  of  the  Resolution  of 
Inquiry,  December  30!,  1838,  "into  the  conduct  of  An 
drew  Stevenson  (United  States  Minister  to  Great  Britain, 
and  J.  Q.  Adams's  political  enemy)  in  his  controversy 
with  Daniel  O.  Connell,  as  well  as  the  participation  of  Cap 
tain  Perry  in  that  affair."*  To  make  a  long  story  short,  Mr. 
Adams,  in  his  political  zeal  to  injure  an  enemy  and  moral 
purpose  to  abolish  "the  detestable  custom  of  private  war," 
struck  the  wrong  man.  All  the  information  on  which  Mr. 
Adams  based  his  inquiry  was  contained,  as  he  confessed, 
in  "those  published  letters  of  James  Hamilton  of  South 
Carolina;"  whereas,  Mr.  Hamilton  regretted  and  publicly 
apologized  for  writing  the  principal  letter  which  gave  rise 
to  the  other  two.t  The  whole  controversy  is  not  without 


*  J.  Q.  Adams'    ll'orks,  Vol.  X,  p.  48;   and    Journal  of"  same 
year. 

t  Nile*  Jtrg-istcr,  Vol.  LV,  (from    September,  1838   to   March 
1839.  pp.  61,  6.:,  104,  105,  132.  133,  258.) 


APPENDIX.  443 

interest,  and  humor  of  both  the  Irish  and  American  sort. 
It  is  possible  that  Perry  never  knew  till  he  found  his 
name  dragged  into  Congress,  what  use  of  his  name  had 
been  made  by  Hamilton.  So  far  as  manifested  in  his 
official  record,*  Matthew  Perry's  example,  influence  and 
energetic  action  were  totally  opposed  to  duelling.  In  his 
African  cruises,  and  at  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  we  find 
him  earnestly  laboring  to  root  out  of  existence  a  practice 
at  war  with  Christian  civilization. 

How  well  he  and  iike-minded  men  succeeded,  is  now 
known  to  all  —  except  an  occasional  hot  head  in  which 
passion  outruns  information.  It  is  perfectly  safe  for  a 
person  seeking  either  notoriety  or  satisfaction  to  challenge 
a  naval  officer  of  the  United  States  to  fight  a  duel.  One 
familiar  with  the  "  Laws  for  the  better  government  of  the 
Navy "  need  have  no  fears  of  the  result.  Neither  gov 
ernment  nor  individuals  now  consider  "  a  single  person 
entitled  to  a  whole  war." 


MEMORIALS  IN  ART  OF  M.  C.  PERRY. 

Portraits. 

By  William  Sidney  Mount  in  1835,  when  M.  C.  Perry  was 
forty  years  old,  now  in  possession  of  one  of  the  Commodore's 
children. 

One  at  the  time  of  his  marriage. 

One  painted  from  a  photograph  by  Brady,  about  1864. 

One  at  the  Brooklyn  Naval  Lyceum. 

One  at  the  Annapolis  Naval  Academy,  by  J.  R.  Irving. 

A  painting  from  a  daguerreotype  was  made  in  Japan  by  a 
Japanese  artist. 

*  Letters.  U.  S.  Navy  Archives,  August,  loth,  1841 ;  Febru 
ary,  1845. 


444  APPENDIX. 


Photographs. 

Of  these,  there  are  several  taken  from  life,  from  one  of  which 
the  frontispiece  of  this  volume  has  been  made. 

Engra  vings. 

In  Harper's  Magazine  for  March,  1856.  from  a  photograph  by 
Brady  of  New  York,  in  an  illustrated  article  011  "Commodore 
Perry's  Expedition  to  Japan,  "  by  Robert  Tomes,  Esq.,  M.  D. 

In  a  London  illustrated  paper,  about  1853. 

In  Gleason's  Pictorial,  Boston,  of  August  5th  1854. 

In  Frank  Leslie's  Illustrated  Newspaper  of  Saturday  March  r;, 
1858. 

Other  prints  in  newspapers  and  lithographs  of  the  face  or 
bust  of  M.  C.  Perry  were  made  during  his  lifetime. 


Bust  and  Statue. 

A  bust  in  marble  of  M.  C.  Perry,  in  sailor  garb  by  E.  D. 
Palmer,  of  Albany  N.  Y. ,  was  made  in  1859,  an<^  *s  now  in  pos 
session  of  the  Commodore's  daughter,  Mrs.  August  Belmont  of 
New  York, 

In  Touro  Park,  Newport,  R.  I.,  the  city  of  his  birth,  about 
fifty  yards  east  of  the  "  old  round  tower"  is  a  bronze  statue  of 
M.  C.  Perry,  on  a  pedestal  of  Qjaincy  granite.  The  extreme 
height  is  sixteen  feet,  the  statue  being  eight,  and  the  pedestal 
eight  feet  in  height.  The  face,  modelled  partly  from  photo 
graphs  and  partly  from  Palmer's  bust,  is  considered  a  good  like 
ness.  The  effect  of  the  figure  is  grand,  and  the  position  easy  and 
natural.  The  model  Avas  designed  by  John  Qj.rincy  Adams 
Ward  of  New  York,  and  the  pedestal  by  Richard  M.  Hunt.  On 
the  latter  are  four  excellent  bas-reliefs  in  bronze,  representing 
prominent  events  in  M.  C.  Perry's  life. 

These  are,  "  Africa,  1843,  "  Perry's  rescue  of  the  man  con 
demned  to  undergo  the  sassy  ordeal,  (p.  173)  ;  "  Mexico,  1846,  " 
transportation  of  the  heavy  ship's  guns  through  the  sand  and 


APPENDIX.  445 

chapparal  to  the  Naval  Battery;  "Treaty  with  Japan,  1854,  "  two 
scenes,  representing  the  reception  of  the  President's  letter  at 
Kurihama  (p.  359) ,  and  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty  at  Yokohoma 
(p.  366).  On  the  front  of  the  plinth  of  the  pedestal  is  cut  an 
American  ensign  ;  on  the  north  and  south  sides  an  anchor,  and 
in  the  rear,  "  Erected  in  1868,  by  August  and  Caroline  S.  Bel- 
mont."  The  bronzes  were  cast  at  the  Wood  Brothers'  foundry 
in  Philadelphia.  Pa.  The  statue  was  unveiled  October  2d,  1868, 
when  the  city  of  Newport  was  given  up  to  public  holiday  in 
honor  of  the  event.  The  military  display  consisted  of  marines, 
sailors,  and  apprentices  from  the  U.  S.  S.  Saratoga  and  cutter 
Crawford,  under  command  of  Captain,  now  Rear-Admiral,  J.  H. 
Upshur ;  and  four  militia  companies.  One  thousand  children  from 
the  public  schools  were  ranged  within  the  hollow  square  formed 
by  the  military,  and  sang  chorals.  Besides  seven  or  eight  thou 
sand  spectators,  there  were  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  clergy 
and  the  children  and  grand  children  of  Commodore  M.  C.  Perry. 
After  prayer  by  Rev.  J.  P.  White,  unveiling  of  the  statue  by  Mrs. 
Belmont,  salutes  from  guns  in  the  park  and  on  shipboard,  music, 
a  speech  of  presentation  by  Mr.  Belmont,  and  responses  by  Mayor 
Atkinson,  the  orator  of  the  day,  the  Rev.  Francis  Hamilton 
Vinton,  D.  D.  delivered  the  oration  and  eulogy.  The  exercises 
were  closed  by  a  speech  from  Captain  J.  H.  Upshur,  U.  S.  N., 
who  drew  a  glowing  picture  of  M.  C.  Perry's  action  at  Vera 
Cruz,  and  of  his  success  in  Japan.  See  the  Newport  Mercury 
of  October  3d,  1868,  and  the  published  oration  of  Dr.  Vinton 
"The  statue"  says  Pay  Director  J.  Geo.  Harris,  U.  S.  N.,  in  a 
letter  to  the  writer  May  19,  1887,  "  is  in  all  respects  a  likeness." 
"•  I  was  impressed  with  its  remarkable  fidelity  in  stature,  pose 
and  bearing,  as  in  full  dress  he  met  the  Japanese  commissioners 
on  the  shore  at  Yokohoma." 

Medals. 

The  gold  medal  struck  in  Boston  had  on  its  face  the  head  of 
"  Commodore  M.  C.  Perry,  "  and  on  the  reverse  the  following 
legend  with  a  circle  of  laurel  and  oak  leaves:  "  Presented  to 
Com.  M.  C.  Perry.  Special  Minister  from  the  United  States  of 


44-6  APPENDIX. 

America,  By  Merchants  of  Boston,  In  token  of  their  appreciation 
of  his  services  in  negotiating  the  treaty  with  Japan  signed  at 
Yoku-hama,  March  31,  and  with  Lew  Chew  at  Napa,  July  n, 
1854."  On  the  band  at  the  base  of  the  wreath  is  the  word  Missis 
sippi,  and  over  it  the  figures  of  two  Japanese  junks,  between  the 
sterns  of  American  ships.  Copies  of  this  medal  in  silver  and 
bronze  were  received  by  subscribers  to  the  gold  original.  The 
die  was  cut  by  F.  N.  Mitchell. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Adams,  Will,  353. 
Admiral,  212,  396,  397. 
Admiralty,  British,  48,  103,  130. 
Alabama  Claims,  2. 
Albany.  365. 
Alexander,  Sarah,  5.  6. 
American  Geographical  Society. 

386,  408. 

Anecdotes,  see  under  Perry. 
Annapolis,  22-24.    J97>  25°>  3°5> 

439'.  443- 

Antarctic  Exploration,  107-109. 
Arctic  Exploration,  9  ,87,  102. 
Army  and  Marine  Officers  : 

Capron,  Horace,  306,  307. 

Coppee,  Henry.  397. 

Edson,  249. 

Forrest,  202.  250. 

Holzinger,  D.  S.  229. 

Lee,  R.  E..  228,  130. 

Patterson,  R..  227.  277. 

Pillow,  237. 

Perry,  O.    H.,   297,    354,    394, 
432. 

Quitman,  238,  239. 

Ringgold,  150. 

Scott,  Winfield,  210,  218,  221, 
222,  233-237,  252,  257. 

Shaw,  R.,   270,    261-263,    298, 

378,  391- 
Steptoe,  239. 

Tavlor,  Zacharv,  209.  218,  282. 
ToUen,  337. 
Viele,  267. 
Watson,  257. 
Worth,  W.  T.,  237. 


Asiatic    Society   of    Japan,    420, 
421,  424- 

Artillery,  see  Ordnance. 

Ashburton  Treaty,  167. 
Authors  quoted  or  referred  to. 

Adams,  F.  O.  431. 

Addison,  139,  194,  403* 

Audubon,  368. 

Arthur,  Rev.  Wm.  431. 

Bancroft,  Herbert,  260. 

Berkelv,   13. 

Black, *J.  R.,  409. 

Bowditch,  352. 

Brinckley,  F.,  420. 

Comte  de  Paris,  134. 

Confucius,  357. 

Cooper,  J.  F.,  139. 

Darwin,  108. 

Dimon,  S.  C.,  366. 

Halleck,  Fitz  Greene,  69,  75. 

Hawthorne,    Nathaniel,     376, 

377,  385- 
Hildreth,  272. 
Hugo,  Victor,  35. 
Irving,  W.,  29,  130,  383. 
James,  30,  43. 
Japanese,    316,  330,    341,  342, 

346,  362,  363,  370. 
Johnston,  Alex.,  213. 
Kaempfer,  295. 
Longfellow,  431. 
Mackenzie,  A.  S.,  73,  74. 
Mencius,  351, 
Oliphant  L.,  417. 
Osborne,  Sherard,  409. 
Parker,  W.  H.,  149,  199. 
Perry,  Hext  M.,  429. 


448 


INDEX. 


Authors  quoted,  etc. — continued. 
Poe,  Edgar  A.,  137,  383. 
Roosevelt,  7,  31,  49. 
Satow,  Ernest,  428. 
Semmes,  Raphael,  240. 
Shakespeare,  430. 
Smith,  Sydney,  308. 
Spalding^J.  W.,3io,  353,  372. 
Taylor,  Bayard,  310. 
Taylor,  F.  W.,  200,  246. 
Taylor,  Henry,  35. 
Tomes,  R.,  384,  385,  403,  444. 
Von  Siebold,  294. 
Watson,  R.  G.,  62. 
Webb,  J.    W.,    140,   303,    387, 

388- 
Wordsworth,    9. 

B. 

Barhyte,J.  383. 

Bells,  313,  357,  373,  374,  392. 

Berribee  affair,  169,  171,  175-182. 

Bible,  13,  404,  405. 

Blue  Peter,  211. 

Boilers  and  protection,  33,    no, 

in,  114,  123,  143. 
Bombs,  see  Shells. 
Boston,  42,  43,  44,  214,  379,  387, 

445,  446. 

Blockade,  45,  46,  116,  117,  369. 
Bloomingdale,  45,  386. 
Boulanger,  151. 
British  empire,  131. 
British  Naval  Officers  : 

Beechey,  294. 

Bingham,  26. 

Byron,  39. 

Cook,  14. 

Dacres,  22. 

Franklin,  J.,  87,  102. 

Jones,  W.   193. 

Marsden,  G.,   223. 

Nelson,  35,  140,  392. 

Osborn,  S. ,  409. 

Sartorius,  G.,  125. 

Seymour,  300. 

British    Navy,    45,    35-37,     131, 
132,  164,  193-195,  4°9- 


British  Ships  of  War: 
Admiralty,  164. 
Beagle,   108. 
Belvidera,  37,  38-41. 
Blossom,  294. 
Daring,  223. 
Galatea,  44. 
Guerriere,  20,  22,   23,   26,   37, 

42. 

Jersey,  3,  5. 
Leopard,  15,  16. 
Little  Belt,  25,  26,  39. 
Mackerel,  41. 
Nemesis,  142. 
Penelope,  130. 
Penguin,  236. 
Rattier,  164. 
Reindeer,  277. 
Shannon,  20,   24,   34,37. 
Terrible,  130. 
Valorous,  131. 
Watt,  4. 

Broad    pennant,    24,    154,    155, 
169,  223,  244,  252,  310,  355. 

C. 

Calbraith  family,  6,  S,    15,    430, 

431- 

Calabar,  61. 

California,  47.  267,  268. 
Cannon,  see  Ordnance. 
Cape  Palmas,  174,  181. 
Cape  Mount,  61. 
Carronade,  4,  35,  36,  132. 
Cemeteries,  192,  343. 
Chaplains,  406,  see  Clergymen. 
Circumnavigation  of  the  globe, 

7,  18,  47,  159,  379. 
Clay,  Henry,  175. 
Columbiads,  149,  218,  226. 
Confederates,    48,    117,    126-128, 

159,  240,  396. 
Congo,  51,  184. 
Cortez,  216. 

Cotton-clad  vessels,  117. 
Clergymen,  chaplains  and  mis 
sionaries  : 

Andrews,  59. 


INDEX. 


449 


Clergymen,    etc. —  continued. 
Bacon  56. 
Bettelheim,  J.,  277. 
Bowen,  N.,  45. 
Bittenger,  E.  C.,  406. 
Coke,  D.,  56. 
Colton,  Walter,  406. 
Cuffee,  Paul,  55. 
Dewey,  Orville,  407. 
Harris,  154. 
Hawkes,    F.,    270,    385,    386, 

392- 

Jenks.J.  W.,  82,84,97. 
Jones,  384,  406. 
Kelly,  J.  182. 
Mills,  i8v 
Noble,  M.,  407. 
Paj'ne,   18 1. 
Perry,  Calbraith,  431. 
Robertson,  89. 
Stewart,  C.   E.,  406. 
Talmage,  John,  286. 
Taylor,  F.  W.,  200,  406. 
Vinton,  F.,  390,  392,  403,  445. 
Williams,   S.  Wells,   275.  366, 

388. 

White,  J.  P.,  445- 
\VTnn,  59. 
Countries  : 

Canada,   167,  298-302. 
China,   7,  237,   307,  310,  333, 

374>  376,  386,  387,  388,  394, 

408,  409,  415. 

Corea,   n,  251,  268,  275,  422. 
Egypt,  88-90. 
France,    10,    n,    92,    94,    131- 

134,   196. 
Great  Britain,  2,  3,  19,  23,  35, 

37»  43»  46,  130-132,  i93»  J96> 

298-302,  308,  409. 
Greece,  73-75?  88,  89,  408. 
Hawaii,  351,  366. 
Holland,  47,  48,  277,  294. 
Ireland,  5,  6,  12. 
India,  7/19,  351,  375. 
Japan,  7,  47,  91,  268,  269,  270- 

386,  409-425. 
Liberia,  50-62,  69,  167-196. 


Countries  — continued. 

Mexico,  68-70,    198-260,    266- 
268,  278,  333,  364    ^76, 

Naples,  91-96,  308. 

Norway,  44. 

Russia,  81-85,  296. 

Siam,  273,  410. 

Sierra  Leone,   52,   56,  59,  60, 
65,  67,  69,  70. 

Spain,  72,  73,  92. 

Turkey,  70,  88-90,  408. 

Yucatan,  250,  257. 
Cross-trampling,  349. 
Courbet,  Admiral,  236. 
Cutlass,  31. 

D. 

Diplomatists  and  Statesmen  : 
Aberdeen,  299. 
Allen,  Elisha,  351. 
Ashburton,  167,  168. 
Belmont,    August,     376,    432, 

445- 

Bingham,  J.  A.,  424. 
Cass,  Lewis,  387,  388. 
Cassaro,  94. 
Davis,  Jefferson,  306. 
Everett,  Edward.  304. 
Harris,  Townsend,    384,   409- 

418,  425. 
Lafayette,  94. 
Macedo,  285,  287,  288. 
Nelson,  John,  91-96. 
Nesselrode,  296. 
Nye,  Gideon,  376,  414. 
Pratt,  Zodoc,  268. 
Randolph,  John,  Si,  82,  85. 
Reed,  Wm.  B.  387. 
Roberts,  President,  172-176.     •> 
Roberts,    Edmund,    273,    274, 

410. 

Rochambeau,  14. 
Rue  swarm,  182. 
Seward  Wm.  H.,  49,  168. 
Shea,  Ambrose,  302. 
Slidell,  John,  45. 
Stevenson,  A. 
Vail,  E.  A.,  133. 


450 


INDEX. 


Diplomatists,  etc.  — continued. 
Wall,  G.  D.,  129. 
Webster,  Daniel,  167,  283,  284, 

303,  304,  306. 
Williams,  S.  Wells,  275,  354, 

366. 

Duelling,  440-443. 
Dutch,  14,37,  270-274,  277,  278, 
339.  347'  348'  349'  37°,  424- 
4-5- 

E. 

Engineers,    111-115,     123,     125, 
161-163. 

F. 
Feudalism,  88,322,  32°-329>  334- 

336,  358,  360,  361,  4i7- 
Fever:    African     59,     189-191, 

Yellow,  254,  255. 
Fire,  158,  163,  313. 
Fireworks,  312. 
Fisheries,  296,  298-302,  436. 
Flags  :  British,  23,  46. 
Japan,  348,  420. 
Liberia,  184. 
Pirate,  67,68, 
United  States,   17,   18,   19,  41- 

73>  395'  4io,  416. 
Flogging.  85,  86,  263-266. 
French,  10,  14,  18,  38,  91,  92.  I3l" 

I34-' 
"    in  Africa,  195,  196;  inChma, 

236,345  ;  in  Mexico,  199,  236. 
Frigate,  id,  20,    27,  36,  43,    14°' 

159,  161. 
Funchal,  41,  310. 


Gaboon,  19=5. 

Galbraith,  6,  8,  15,  43°-  43 '• 

Gardiner's  Island,  103. 

Germans,  16,  51,  229. 

Gettysburg,  304. 

Golownin,  335,  355,  356- 

Greeks,  73-75,  87-89. 

Grog  ration,  86,  263-264,  435. 

Guinea,  51,  61. 

Gunnery,  see  Ordnance. 


H. 


Halifax,  34,  41,  300. 

Hazard  family,  3,  13. 

Hessians,  57. 

Heusken,  Mr.  417. 

Hong  Kong,  310,  343,  374-  375' 

376'  394'  432- 

I. 

Impressment,  20-23,  48,  49. 
International  rifle  match,  43. 
Inventors,  artists,  men  ofscience. 
107,  134,   165,  297,  370. 

Bomford,  149. 

Bowditch,  352. 

Cochrane,  W.,  146. 

Coehorn,  216. 

Ericsson,  no,  126,  164. 

Faraday,  134. 

Fresnel,  A.,  133. 

Fulton,  R.,  28,  29,  1 10. 

Henry,  J.,  134. 

Humphries,  71. 

Irving,J.  R,,  443- 

Krupp,   150. 

Mount,  W.  S.,  443- 

Paixhans,  149. 

Palmer,  E.  D.,  444- 

Redfield,  W.  C.,  140-143- 

Symmes,  J.  C.,  107. 

Teulere,  136. 

Toussard,  20. 

Ward,  E.  C.,  103. 

Ward,J.  Qi  A..  444- 

Wheeler,  S.,   148. 
Irish  soldiers,  206. 
Iron  clads,  32,  118,  126-128,  157, 

373'  4J9- 
Iron  ships,  130. 

J. 

Japan : 

Adzuma,  352.  373,  4J9- 

Art    of.   314,    33-.    336-    359" 

361. 
Bonin  islands,  274,   311,  4I9" 

421. 


INDEX. 


451 


Japan  — continued. 

Buddhism,  320,  342,  357. 
Christianity  in,  324,  325,  349, 

363,  423- 

Fatsisio,  (Hachijo),  421. 

Fuji  yama,  312,  316,  353. 

Gorihama,  335~342- 

Hachijo,  421. 

Hakodate,  371,  373,419. 

Hiogo,  418. 

Idzu,  312,  371. 

Kamakura,  327,  352,  354. 

Kanagawa,  356,  413,  415. 

Kioto,  413,  414,  418,  419. 

Kurihama,  335-342. 

Kuro  Shiwo,  296. 

Loo  Choo,  see  RiuKiu. 

Matsumae,  274,  371. 

Meiji  era,  419,  423. 

Midzu-ame,  315. 

Nagasaki,  7,  270-272,  278,  316, 

319,  411. 

Nagato,  321,371. 
Names  and  titles,  318,  322,  326, 

328,  333>  334- 
Napa,  see  Riu  Kiu. 
Nitta,  352. 
Ogasawara   islands,   311,    419, 

420,  421. 

Okinawa,  see  Riu  Km. 
Ozaka,  413,  418. 
Riu  Kiu,    294,   310,   312,  343, 

347»  35i   4I9>420>446. 
Ronin,  335,  417. 
Sapporo,  419. 
Shidzuoka,  368. 
Shimoda,  342,   371,    410,   411, 

412,415,  416. 
Shuri,  314,  419. 
Tokio,  419,  422. 
Uraga,     276,    279,     313,    356, 

423- 
Yamato  darnashii,  338,  422. 

Yedo,  315,    326-328,    329-334, 

412,  416,  419. 
Yokohama,  312,  357,  363,  415, 

421,423. 
Yokosuka,  353. 


Japanese : 

Bonzes,  315,  342. 

Bunio,    see    Kayama    Yezaye- 

mon. 

Cho-teki,  419. 
Embassies,  417,  418. 
Echizen,  346,  416. 
Fudo,  338. 
Guanzan,  339. 
Hayashi,    350,    351,   357,  360, 

362,  365*  4!3- 
Hokusai,  331. 
Hori  Tatsunoske,  318. 
Hotta,  413. 

Ito,  336,  338. 

Izawa,  355,  356. 

lyesada,  329,  346,347,  413. 

lyeyasu,  270,  314,  329,  348. 

lyeyoshi,  329,  345,  346. 

Katsu  Awa,  366. 

Kayama  Yezavemon,  321,  335, 

338. 

Kobo,  357. 
Kuroda,  422. 
Kurokawa  Kahei,  354. 
Manjiro,  351,352,  366. 
Mikado,    295,    309,    311,    318, 

326-328,  333,  417,  410,  423. 
Mito,  346,  416,  417. 
Moriyama,  Yenosuke,  276. 
Nagashima    Saburosuke,   317, 

318. 

Nitta,  352. 
Nio,  338. 

Ota  Do  Kuan,  329,  330. 
Sakuma,  349,  350. 
Taiko,  325,  333. 
Taira  ghosts,  321. 
Toda,  336,  338. 
Tokugawa,  317,  329,  334,  336, 

346,  35 1- 
Tycoon,    326,    327,     329,    333, 

414,  417.  4 

Yoshida    Shoin     (Toraijiro), 

349>  350,  369*  4i6. 


452 


INDEX. 


Khartoum,  88. 
Kings  and  rulers. 

Bomba,  95. 

Bonaparte,  J.,  91 . 

Catharine,  84. 

Crack-O,  176-178. 

Cromwell,  3. 

Freeman,  72. 

George  III.,  52,  84. 

Gomez  Farias,  225. 

Iturbide,  69,  70. 

Komei,  315,  345. 

Louis  Phillipe,  131,  133,  134. 

Mehemet  AH,  88,  98. 

Murat,  91. 

Mutsuhito,  309,  423. 

Napoleon,   132. 

Nicholas,  82-84. 

Santa  Anna,  205,  257,   258. 

Victoria,  131. 

L. 

Lake  Erie,  8,  14,  34,  45. 
Langrage  shot,  33,  34. 
Lighthouses  133-137,  312. 
Line-of-battle    ships,    32,  71—75, 

140. 
Liquor,  86,    263,    265,    33;,    341, 

367,  368. 

Loo  choo,  see  Riu  Kin. 
Louisiana,  n,  207,  208,  218. 
Lyceum,  99-103,  443. 

M. 

Macao  273,  274,  343. 

Maryland    in    Africa,    173,     174, 

185- 

Massachusetts  Horticultural  So 
ciety,  87. 

Mesurado,  59,  61,  172,  183. 

Mexican   war,  67,   197-269,    278, 

364,  444- 
Mexico,  69,  70,  198,  216,  250,  253, 

260. 

Alvarado,  199,  239,  240. 
Cerro  Gordo,  241. 
Green  Island,  219,  220. 


Mexico  — continued. 
Laguna,  208,  209. 
Mexico  City,  210,  257,  333. 
Sacrificios  island,  199,  253. 
Salmadina  island,  250. 
St.  Juan  d'Ulloa,  69,   131,  219 

232,  233,  238,  258,  375- 
Tabasco,    200,    202-205,     242 

249. 

Tampico,  205,  206-208. 
Tuspan,  241,  255. 
Vera    Cruz,   68,   70,   216-240 

249,  258. 

Missionaries,  52-56,  89,  407,  425 
Missions,  Christian,  407. 
Mongols,  320,  333. 

Monitor,  72,  141. 

Monrovia,  59,  60,   169,   183,    184 

Montravel  Com.,  344. 

Mosquito  fleet,  68,  233. 

Mother  of  M.  C.  Perry,  6,  7,  12- 

H>  393- 
Moustaches,  104-107. 

N. 
Naval   Academy,    17,    193,    197, 

250,  374>  443- 

Navy  of  the  United  States, 
admiral,  212,  396,  397. 
archives,  21,  264,  285,  441. 
beards     and    mustaches,    105 

107. 

benefit  of,    4,  5,  n,  27,  47-49, 
57,    65,  66,  73,  74,  95,    108, 

396- 

broad  pennant  154,  244. 
bureaus,  160,  212. 
cemeteries,   191-193,  205,  343, 

344- 

commodore,  154,  155. 
comet,  2-1 1. 
discipline,  16,  42,  86,  187,  188, 

240,  249,  297,  361,  371,  372, 

436,  440,  344- 
duelling,  440-443. 
flogging,  264-266. 
grog  ration,  264-266 
honor  of,  193,  261-263,  400. 


INDEX. 


453 


Navv,  etc.  — continued. 
hospitals,  64,  250,  343. 
hygiene,  187-191,  250. 
marine  corps,    202,    222,    241, 

249,257,  264,  361. 
mutiny,  53,  264,  439. 
nursery,  301,  435~439- 
recruiting  service,    29,  30,  46, 

"4»  435-439- 
reforms,    154,    263,    266,    435- 

439'  440-443- 

sailors,  20,  29-32,  48,  65,  85- 
87,  89,  90,  114,  200,  226- 
237,  239,  241-249,  263-266, 

301'  367 '  37 1,  391'  440,443- 

ships,    types  and  varieties  of, 

4.  19,  71,  72,   no,   in,    115, 

117,  140-145,  156-166,212. 

signals,  25,  38,   198,   211,  220, 

staff  and  line,  112-114. 
steam,   110-119,   II2>   I2I>  I3°» 

156-166,  298. 
tactics,  33,   117,  118,   121,  125, 

159- 

torpedoes,  28,  29. 
trophies,  5,  46,  49,   179,  240, 

248,  250,  261,  262. 
New  Orleans,  46,  92,  207. 
Newport,  8,  n,  14,  15,  44,  255, 

255'  38o,  393'  444'  445- 
Newspapers,  218,  223,  224,  259, 

262,308,  378,  405,  442,  445. 
New  York,   17,  23,   100,  99-166, 

379'  383'  3S6,  391- 
Norfolk,  69,  82,  210,  252,  306. 

o. 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  442. 
Officers,  Merchant  marine  : 

Burke,  170,  172. 

Carver,  170. 

Cooper,  Mr..  275,  2?f>,  294. 

Coffin,  R.  311. 

Jennings,  283. 

Odell,  399. 

Stewart,  271. 

Storm,  J.,  139. 


Officers  — continued. 

Whitfield,  J.  H.,351. 

Whitmore,  351. 
Officers,  U.  S.  Navv  : 

Abbot,  347,  364,  375. 

Adams,  H.,  292,  305,  322,  354, 
355.356,  400. 

Almy,  J.,  95,  98,  400,  404. 

Aulick,  J.,  230,  237,   262,283- 
288,  290,  297,  307. 

Babcock,  G.  W.,  4. 

Bainbridge.,  37. 

Barren  J.  123,  127. 

Bent,  Silas,  292,  379,  398. 

Biddle,  68,  276. 

Bigelow,  A.  212,  249,  391. 

Breese,  237,  391. 

Bridge,  H.  175. 

Buchanan,    F.,   126,   197,   252, 
286,  292,  305,  322,  337. 

Burt,  N.,  115. 

Cheever,  204. 

Conner,  D.,  107,  198,  199,  205, 
206,  219-221,  238. 

Contee,  J.,  306,  318,  322. 

Craven,  181. 

Dahlgren,  150. 

Decatur,  45,  46. 

De  Long,  297, 

Fairfax,  A.  B.,  212. 

Farragut,   D.    G.,  36,  72,  126, 

396- 

Farron,  J.,  115. 
Follansbee,  J.,  40. 
Freelon,  188-190. 
Geisinger,  D.,  277. 
Glynn,  J.,  277-279,  281,  282. 
Gregory,  402. 
Harris," J-  G.,  365,  445. 
Haswell,  C.  H.,  115,  211. 
Hunt,  T.  A.,  212. 
Hunter,   C.    G.,  212,  239,  240, 

258. 

Hull,  143. 

Jenkins,  T.  A.,  35,  137,  388. 
Jones,  Paul,  396. 
Jones,  T.  Ap.  C.,  126,  197. 
Kennedy,  274. 


454 


INDEX. 


Officers  —  continued. 
Kearney,  130. 
Lawrence,  24. 

Lee,  S.  S.,  247,  292,  304,  305. 
Lockwood,  20^. 
Lynch,  Wm.  F.  117. 
Mackenzie,  A.  S.,  45,  73,  139, 

237*  245. 

Magruder,  G.  A.,  212. 
May,  Wm.,  244. 
Matthews,  J., -343,  344. 
Maury,  379. 
Mayo,  J.,  179,    197,    220,    231, 

234'  235?  236. 
Mclntosh,  293. 
McCluney,  299,  391. 
McKeever,  293. 
Holier,  B.  C.,  103. 
Morgan,  C.  W.,  74,  440. 
Morris,  203,  205. 
Nicholson,  J.  4. 
Parker,  F.  A.,  1159. 
Parker,  W.  A.,  203. 
Parker,  W.   II.,   149,   199,  2.20. 
Patterson,  D.  47,  92,  97,  308. 
Pearson,  293. 
Perry,   C.   R.,  3-8,  10,    n,    17, 

254- 

Perry,  J.  A.,  47,  48. 
Perry,  O.  II.,  8,  13,  17,  20.  39, 

98.  39°>  393- 
Perry,  R.,  17,  20,  45. 
Pinckney,  R.  S.,  212, 
Pickering,  C.  W.,  117. 
Porter,  D.  D.,47,  66. 
Porter,  D.  D.,   107,   246,    247, 

401. 

Preble,  Geo.  H.,  104,  105. 
Reany,  291. 
Ridgely,  C.  G.,  99,   101,   102, 

104,  108,  1 1 8. 
Rodgers,  John,  28,  30,  38,  44, 

72. 

Rodgers,  John,  28,  47,  432. 
Rodgers,  R.  C.,  240. 
Sands,  J.    R.,    202,    232,    304. 

305,  400. 
Sanford,  II.  115. 


Officers  —  continued. 
Semmes,  R.  240. 
Shubrick,  232. 
Skinner,  193. 
Sloat,  129,  391. 
Stellwagen,  171. 
Stewart,  37,  396. 
Stockton,  F.,  164,  241. 
Swift,  W..  103. 
Tatnall,  J.   232,  233,409,    414, 

4*5- 

Thornton,  J.  S.,  166,  240. 
Townsend,  J.  S.,  153. 
Trenchard,  E.,  50,  52,  56. 
Upshur,  }.,  222,  445. 
Van  Brunt,  J.  G,.  212. 
Walke,  220. 
Walker,  W.  S.,  212. 
Wilkes,  C.,  45,  49. 
Williamson,  85. 
Ordnance,  17,  27,32-36,  72,    131- 

I33>    144'    H6-i55>   226-237, 

241,  243,  266,  361. 
Ordeal,  172-174. 

p. 

Pacific   Ocean,  47,  84,  268,  294, 

296. 

Packenham,  Gen..  46,  92. 
Paddle-Wheels,     in,     114,    130, 

164,  298. 
Paixhans  Cannon,  149,151,  226- 

230,  335-361. 

Palaver,  162-169,  175,  177. 
Perry,  C.  R.,  3-7,  10,  n,  17. 
Perry,  Edmund,  3-8,  10-12. 
Perry,  Freeman,  3,  382. 
Pension,  432. 
Port  Hudson,  158,  159. 
Perry,  Matthew  Calbraith  r 
ancestry,  1-7.  « 

anecdotes     of,   8,  21,  24,  219, 
222,  224,  341,  342,  366,  397, 
399,  400,  404,  405,  440-443. 
birth,  8. 

childhood,  8-15,  380. 
children,  431-433,  445- 
citizen  of  New  York,  100. 


INDEX. 


455 


Perry,  M.  C.  — continued. 
commodore,  154,  i^5- 
commodore's  aid,  22. 
Europe,  41-44,  48,  71-98,  440, 

442; 

Japan,  310-379,  427; 
Mediterranean.  71-98: 
Mexico,  68,  70,  197-260,  427, 

444>  445; 

West  Indies,  65-71. 
cruise  in  Africa,  50-63.  69,  167- 

195,  427,  444. 
•'  Europe,  41-44,  48.  71-    j 

98,  440,  442. 
••Japan,  310^379,  427- 
"       ''-Mediterranean,  71-98. 
"       "Mexico,  68,    70,   197- 

260,  427,  444,  445. 
••  West  Indies,  65-71. 
death,  390,  415. 
detail,  431,  434. 
diary,  21,  307,  403. 
duelling,  440-443. 
executive  officer,  71-75. 
family,  2,  3,  292,  429-433. 
fights  pirates,  65-71. 
first  battles,  25/26;  30-41. 
founds  U.   S.  Naval  Lyceum, 

101,  103. 

funeral,  390-393. 
^habits,  395-408. 
hair,  105,  375. 
Japanese  regard  for,  364,  365, 

415,  418,  423. 

knowledge  ot  Japan,  294,  295. 
letters,  193,  403,  427. 
marriage,  45,  43!-433- 
mother,  6-8,  11-14,  393- 
name,  8,  429-431. 
nick-name,  43,  259,  265. 
Revenge,  20—27  '•>  -President,  38— 

45- 
United  States    45,     Chippciva^ 

46,  48. 

Cyanc,  50-57,  Shark,  58-70. 
North  Carolina  71-76. 
Concord    81—90,    Brandywine, 

94-96. 


Perry,  M.  C.  — continued. 

Fulton ,  no-ill,  Sa  ratoga , 
169,  Mississippi,  1 98-229,  310, 

374- 

Germantoivn,  252,  Cumber 
land^  258. 

Susquchanna  310—355, 

Poivhatan,  355-372. 

organizes  engineer  corps,  112, 

"5- 

organizes    Japan    expedition, 

295».-97>  305- 

organizes  naval  brigade,  241— 
246. 

organizes  school  of  appren 
tices,  118,  435-439- 

organizes  school  of  gun- 
practice,  146-148. 

personal  traits,  83,  97,  98,  I  04- 
106,397-408.—  ^ 

politics,  139,  310. 

portraits,  443-446. 

refuses  salute,  55. 

reinbursed  by  Congress,  93, 98. 

religion,  14,  324,  404-406. 

residence  in  Macao,  343,  344; 
Naples,  96-98 ;  New  Lon 
don,  So;  New  York,  386, 
388;  Tarrytown,  138-140, 
261,  289;  Washington,  379. 
388. 

rheumatism,  76-80,  389,  390. 

selects  site  of  Monrovia,  59, 
183. 

shore  duty,  99,  100-166.  379- 
390- 

statue,  444,  445. 

takes    orders    to    Rodgers,  23, 

2.4". 
training  at  home,    13—15. 

training  on  ship,  19-27. 

visits,  the  Czar,  82-85  ;  Eng 
land,  129-131  ;  Egypt,  88, 
89;  France,  131-134;  Fun- 
chal,  309-310;  Greece,  75, 
88;  Holland,  48;  Khedive, 
88;  Louis  Philippe,  133,  134; 
Shuri,  311,  419. 


456 


INDEX. 


Perry,  M.  C.  —continued. 
wounded,  40. 
writings,  427,  428. 
Perry,  Oliver  Hazard,  8,   10,    13, 
14,  17,  19,  20,34,  45..9S,  139' 
390,  393- 
Perry,    Sarah     Alexander,    6-8, 

"-H.  45'  324- 
Physicians  and  surgeons  : 

Ayres,  Eli,  58,  59. 

Du  Barry,  S.S,.  287,  437. 

Kellogg,   189. 

McCartee,  D.  B.,  245,  286,  420. 

McGill,  173. 

Parker,  P.,  275,  287. 

Rush,  Benjamin,  6. 

Wiley,  63. 

Pirates",    n,  63,  65-71,  75,  104. 
Pivot-guns,  40,  144,  145,  150. 
Pontiatine,  Ad.,  345. 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  81,  273. 
Portuguese,  15,  55,  60,  62,    196, 

344- 

Presidents  of  the  United  States  : 

Washington,  5,  216,  374. 

Jefferson,   11,^271. 

Adams,  J.,  10.^1 

Madison,  37. 

Monroe,  60. 

Adams,  J.  Q^.,  442. 

Jackson,  Si,  91,  96,  119,  273. 

Van  Buren,  158. 

Harrison,  139. 

Polk,  210,  255,  256,  260. 

Taylor,  209,  218,  282,  283. 

Fillmore,  298,  305,  323,  329. 

Pierce,  241,  310,  387,  410. 

Buchanan,  296,  387. 

Arthur,  431. 

Cleveland,  167,  421. 
Press-gang,  20,  22,  23,  48,  49. 
Prince  de  Joinville,  131. 
Privateers,  4,  5,  36,  65,  75,  436. 
Propellers,  164,  304. 

Q 

Quakers,  2,  3. 
Quarantine,  54,  93. 
Quarrels  on  ship,  441,  442. 


K. 

Ram,  28,  120-128. 

Rhode  Island,  7,  14,  15,  380-38", 

393.  444- 

j    Right    of"  search,    see    Impress 
ment. 

I    Rohde,  Ad.,  198. 
i    Russians,   82-85,    131,    2^6,  311, 

349.352. 

S. 

Sake,  341,  356. 
Saratoga,  383. 
Savory,  N.,  311. 
Schenectady,  197,  344. 
Scurvy,  42,  54,  63,  64,  188,  208. 
Sebastopol,   107. 
Secretaries  U.  S.  Navy,  20,  154, 

Smith,  17. 

Southard,  406,  440. 

Paulding,  157. 

Mason,  256. 

Bancroft,  197. 

Graham,  106,  283,  288,  289,  298. 

Kennedy,    298,   299,  302,  305, 
306,  307. 

Dobbin,  106,  288. 
Settra  Kroo,  172,  173. 
Shells,  4,  33,  146-155,  217,  228- 

230,  312. 

Sherbro,  52,  53,  55,  56. 
Shinto,  342. 
Ships,  merchant : 

Adventurer,  311. 

Auckland,  283. 

Caroline,  61. 

Central  America,  389. 

Edivard  Barley,  170. 

Elizabeth,  51,  52,  55. 

Great  Western,  129,  130. 

Jcunc  Nelly,  219. 

Ladoga,  277. 

Lawrence,  276. 

Manhattan,  275. 

Mary    Carrcr,    170,    177,    179, 
iSb. 

Morrison,  274,  275,  316. 

San  Pablo,  420. 

S-ara  Boyd,  351. 

Transit ,  311- 


INDEX. 


457 


Ships  of  War  : 

John  Adams,    55,  66,   93,  95,    j 

96. 

Aetna,  212. 

Alabama,  2,  145,  165,   240. 
Albany,   226,  239. 
Allcghany,  298. 
Alliance,  94. 
Argus,  24,  38,  43,  264. 
Bonita,  201,  204. 
Boston,  92,  93. 
Boxer,  282. 

Brandy-wine,  91,  94-96. 
Chesapeake,  34. 
Chippe-va,  46,  48. 
Columbus,  7,  149,  276. 
Concord,  81-90,  92,  93,  95,  96. 
Congress,  38,  66,  293. 
Constitution,    42,    43,    50,     74, 

159- 

Creole,  131. 

Cumberland,  198,  201,   258. 
Cyane,  47,  50-64,  74. 
Decatur,  212. 
Demologos,  1 10. 
Destroyer,  no. 
Electra,  2 12. 
Enterprise,  274,  282. 
^r/V,  74. 
Fal month,  293. 
Forward,  201,  204. 
Fulton,  ist,   no. 
Fulton,  2nd,  110-119,  120,  121, 

H4>  i53>  l87»  437- 
Gallinipper,  68. 
General  Greene,   10,  254. 
Germanto-wn,  252,  258,  354. 
G/m/S  68. 
Grampus,  68. 
Hartford,  396. 
Hecla,  212. 
Hornet,  54,  236. 
Hunter,  219,  225. 
Jeannette,  297. 

Kearsarge,   144,  145,  165,  166. 
Z,«  Gloire,  125. 
Lack  atv  anna,  143. 
Lawrence,  451. 
Lexington,  345,  347,  375. 


Ships  of  War  —  continued. 

Macedonian ,  45,  46,    171,   347, 

352,  361,  375,  404- 

Merrimac,  126,  127. 

McLane,  199,  201.  204. 

Miantonomah ,  7 1  • 

Midge,  68. 

Mijftin,  4. 

Mississippi,  123,  158-162,  198, 
201,  207,  209,  210-212,  215, 
219-221,  252,  298,299,  352, 

379,  4J5,  423, 
Missouri,  156-166,  306. 
Mosquito,  68. 
Nautilus,  57. 
Nonita,  201,  204. 
North    Carolina,    72-76,    266, 

402,  435- 
Ontario,  74. 
/W/«5,  345. 
Peacock,  273,  274. 
Petrel,  209. 
Petrita,  201,  205. 
Porpoise,  171,  172,  181,   379. 
Portsmouth,  411. 
Powhatan,  298,  306,    353,    362, 

4!5,  4I7- 

President,  20-28,  38-44,  144. 
Princeton,  164,  304-306. 
Plymouth    310,  312,  347. 
Raritan,  250. 
Reefer,  201. 
Revenge,  17—20. 
Sand-fly,  68. 
vS'aw  Jacinto,  410. 
Saratoga,   171,   258,  310,  312, 

347,  445- 
Sea-gull,  66. 

Scorpion,  212,  242,  243,  247. 
Shark,  58-64,  65-71. 
Somers,  438. 
Southampton.  347. 
Spitfire,  22,  198,  232,  246,  247. 
67.  Mary's,  226. 
Stockton,  164. 
Stonewall,  373,  419- 
Stromboli,  212,  243. 
Susquehanna,   285,     286,     310, 

312,  321    379 


458 


INDEX. 


Ships  of  War — continued. 
Supply, 310,  312,  343,  347,  375. 

Tennessee,  126. 

Thistle,  50. 

Trumbull,  4,  5. 

United  States,  43,  45,  95,  104. 

Vandalia,  343,  347,  355,  357- 

Vesuvius,  212,  243. 

Vincennes,  276. 

Virginia,  126. 

Vixen,  198-202,  209,  232. 

Washington,  7,  243. 

fF«s/,  45. 

Weeha-ivken,  28. 
Since,  169,  172. 
Sho-gun,  279,  326-328,  329,  333, 

352,  362,  368. 
Slave   trade,    15,    53,  58,  60-62, 

167,  168,  194-196. 
Slavery  in  America,   15,   57,  67, 

184-186,  260. 

Slidell,  Jane,  43,  376,  431,  432- 
Slidell,  John,  Mr.,  45,  47,  48. 
Smithsonian  Institute,  369. 
Soudan,  15,  88,  234. 
South  Carolina,  20,  382,  442. 
Statistics,  266,  267  : 

U.  S.  Navy,  Revolution,  5. 

War  of   1812,   30, 

32,  36,  37,  48,  49- 

"      Mexican  war,  266- 

268. 

"       Civil  war,  143,144, 
396. 

"      in  Japan,  343,  364, 

37 1>  375,  379- 
Africa,   184,  186,  194,  196. 
broadsides,  32,  72,  144. 
Japan,  419-424- 
lighthouses,  136. 
merchant    marine,    296,    300, 

301. 

ordnance,    151,    226,   230,   235. 
Perry's  work,  69,  97,  123,  225, 

385?  389,  39°>  395- 
recruits,  435-439- 
slave  ships,  61,  194. 
steamships.   132,  212. 


Steam,   110-119,    121,    198,    199, 

368,  423,  424. 
Steven's  battery,    126,    155,    156. 

159- 

Submarine  cannon,  no. 
Sunday,  14,  324,  405,  406. 


T. 


Tarrytown,  138-140,  261,  289. 

Telegraphs,  38,  47,  134,  368,  424. 

Telephones,  312. 

Temperance,  86,  263-265,  435. 

Torpedoes,  28,  29. 

Tower  Hill,  8,  10,  n,  382. 

Trafalgar,  36,  37,  132. 

Treaty-house,  357,  415. 

Treaty,  Canadian  of  1818,  300; 
reciprocity,  302 ;  of  Ghent. 
47;  Naples,  96,  308;  Hidalgo 
Guadalupe,  257;  with  Japan, 
370,  371,412-416;  of  Tientsin, 

4J5- 

Triremes,  121,  124,  140. 
Tycoon,  see  Sho-gun. 


U. 


Union  College,  107. 
United  States,  216,  49,  395.  396. 
"          4<      colonial    policy,    57, 

184. 

l<          "     policy    in    war,    209, 
213,  214,  250,  308. 

v. 

Victorian  era,  131. 
Viele,  Mrs.  A.,  420. 

\v. 

Wallace,   Sir  William,  12. 
Wars: 

Revolutionary,  4-6,51,  52,  383. 

Tripolitan,  11,  18.  50. 

1812,  28-49,  I03>  301,  435,  H3- 
149. 

Mexican,  67,  150,  198-267,  2 7cS 


INDEX. 


459 


Wars,  etc.  — continued. 

Civil,   31     126-128,    134* 
165,  166,  258,  268,  396. 

Victorian  era,  131. 
Washington  obelisk,  374. 
West  Point,  258. 


Whalers.  274,  276,  29^,  296,  421. 
Wheatley,  Phillis,  15. 


T. 


Yamato,  damashii,  338422. 
Yellow  fever,  217,  252,  254,  255. 


96s) 


VB 


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